How the Story Went
by hot mess express
Summary: This isn't just a love story. It's my story. Ours, mine and Jared's. Don't believe what other people might tell you, what comes out of the rumor mill. I'm telling it now and this, this is how it went.
1. Chapter 1

So I started writing this ages ago...it's about half way finished and saved on my computer, but I figured I would post it. Let me know if you think it's something I should continue.

Warning: This story does contain use of alcohol by minors in later chapters, mild language and references to sex.

**Disclaimer: **The characters and plot that are from Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. Nothing illegal happening here...

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><p>When I was eleven, I got into a fight with my best friend. She was in love with Aaron Carter then and had his posters and pictures plastered onto her walls with scotch tape and superglue. She was in love with him and she stalked him through the tabloids and planned out how exactly she was going to get the superstar to fall in love with her. I thought it was stupid and she got mad at me, because I was supposed to have a famous crush too. But that seemed silly to me, even at the age of eleven, to be in love with someone that I could never have. The unobtainable romance. And even though I condemned her (as much as any eleven year old could condemn another) for living in a fantasy world, I was no better. Because when I was eleven I fell for Jared Cameron. And I knew he would never love me back.<p>

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><p>The first bell at La Push High School rang at 7:42 every morning without fail. And I always raced into first period between 7:45 and 8:00, because my dad dropped me off late or my locker got stuck or I ran into a deer on my way over. Luckily for me, I suppose, my homeroom teacher was gullible and usually never noticed that my excuses became more and more far-fetched as the year progressed. And today -Monday (the hell mother of all weekdays)- was no different. I slipped into the room at fifteen to the hour and muttered something about traffic jams on the main road, something that had never happened in La Push, before sliding into my seat four rows back from the front of the room.<p>

"I'm buying you a watch for your birthday." Jackie said from my right, not looking up from the worksheet she was frantically scribbling answers on. I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through my dark hair.

"I'd break it." I replied, "Or lose it." Jackie paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement. I looked closer at what she was working on. "You do realize none of those answers are right? The answers are supposed to be variables, not numbers."

Jackie sat up straight and considered the worksheet carefully.

"Shit." she muttered after a minute, "Whatever, I'll just tell him I didn't understand it."

I rolled my eyes again. Typical Jackie, always the academic slacker. Not that I was in the running for Valedictorian, but I managed to keep average grades and hand in my work without struggling to finish it in homeroom. She tossed her chocolate curls over one shoulder and grinned broadly at me while simultaneously tucking the paper into her notebook.

"Your boy called me this weekend." she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. I groaned and slumped into my seat a bit. She laughed at my reaction and continued on.

"He wants to know how to win you back." she said, matter-of-factly, "I don't see why you won't give it another go, he was such a good boyfriend. Didn't he buy you that really nice purse?"

I glared at her. Nice purses were not what relationships were made of. Even if it was art in the form of leather and canvas. Ian didn't seem to understand that.

"When a boy refers to you as 'my girlfriend' more than your actual name, it's over Jax." I said flatly. Ian and I had broken up over a month ago anyway. He wasn't right. They never were. I was a terrible girl to go after and I knew it, because every boy I dated had been held to an impossible standard. I had held a torch for Jared Cameron since I was eleven. And after years of middle school fantasies and day dreaming, he became something of a prince charming in my mind. No boy that I had dated since had been able to meet the standard that I had allowed him to set in my heart. Not that I would ever admit my crush to anyone, not even Jackie. It was stupid, holding a flame for a boy who I had barely spoken to. But regardless, I couldn't let him go.

"Maybe that's his way of giving you a pet name?" she suggested lightly, "It's like...like...calling you baby or buttercup or something!"

"Who the hell calls their girlfriend 'buttercup'?" I said, making a face at the pet name. Jackie shrugged.

"Look, I'm just saying, Ian was the best guy you've dated lately. I mean, he's way better than Gavin was, right? You shouldn't give that up so easily." she sighed, as the 8:00 bell rang to signal our transition to first period. I pretended to think about it for a moment. Jackie would never drop it unless she thought that I had really put thought into it.

"You might be right, Jax." I said after a minute, knowing that that was what she wanted to hear, "I'll think about it, okay?"

Jackie seemed slightly relieved and slightly triumphant, as she veered off down the science hallway towards her first class. My first class was Government, at the other end of the school. I had a love-hate relationship with my Government class. I hated it because it wasn't particularly interesting and because I had been refused entrance into the fifth period Government class, which would have allowed me to arrive to school late everyday with an extra hour of sleep. I loved it too, because it was a required senior credit that was notoriously easy and I had no trouble keeping an A in the class. That and I was seated next to Jared. I doubted that fact even registered in his mind, but I was painfully aware of it. It wasn't that he disliked me or that I seemed to shrink into the background of the world. Jared Cameron and I simply weren't friends. He had his friends, I had mine and they had never overlapped.

For me, Jared was what I would never have. It was the sort of amusement that eighth grade girls got from having crushes on senior football players. Something to idly fantasize about as a way to pass the time, to make yourself blush and a face to use as the mask for your imagined perfect man. I knew that nothing would ever happen, but it didn't matter. And so I went through three and a half years of high school daydreaming about Jared and sabotaging any relationship I had because none of those boys matched up to how I imagined him. I dropped into my seat, last row and closest to the door, a few minutes before the bell. Jared had been absent for a few weeks now, I had noticed and it was the first time all year that I had taken diligent notes, just in case he needed them. It wasn't as if he would ask me for them. One of his close friends, Paul, was in the class as well and if he needed to be caught up Paul would be the one he would ask. I glanced to my left. Paul was two seats over, an empty desk that Jared usually occupied between us, snoring into his folded arms. Well, maybe _not_ Paul.

The door to the classroom opened, just as the bell chimed to signal the start of class. I refrained from jumping as I saw an unusually tall boy duck into the classroom. It was Jared. A taller Jared, by what must have been five inches and a bigger Jared, broader and fitter than he had been before his disappearance. Apart from that, he looked about the same, in his usual simple t-shirt and jeans with his backpack haphazardly slung over one shoulder.

He nodded towards the teacher and made his way through the rows to his seat next to me. He didn't look at me, and I didn't expect him to. Instead, I reminded myself not to stare and fiddled aimlessly with my pen. I could still hear Paul snoring a few feet away and Jared slouched into the chair, his now larger frame making it seem as if the desk might break. My fingers slipped and my pen fell to the floor between us with a clattering sound. I glanced down at it slowly and was about to reach to pick it up, but Jared was faster. He held the pen out to me and I reached for it, our eyes meeting in the process. His brown eyes widened as they met my hazel ones.

"Thanks." I said, giving him a half smile and setting the pen safely on my desk. He was still staring at me, when I glanced back at him, looking confused, but also enlightened. Like the lights in his life were suddenly turned on. He shook himself out of it when he saw that I had caught him looking and he quickly brought his attention back to his notebook. I opened my own and attempted to take notes on what was being written on the chalk board, but I was distracted by that fact that every few seconds, he would look at me again. Finally he leaned over a bit.

"Hey, do you have the notes from last week?" he asked me in a whisper. I glanced up in surprise, but flipped back to the past few weeks in my notebook.

"Yeah, do you want them?" I asked and he nodded, taking the notes that I offered him. He still locked eyes with me as he did all of this and really didn't seem to care about catching up on the work he had missed. He half heartedly wrote down a few of the things that I had so diligently written, but continued to stare at me every few minutes. The rest of class continued like this, with Jared's unusual behavior making it impossible for me to pay attention to the lecture. I sighed when the bell rang. He still had my notebook.

"Can I give this back to you later?" he asked, "I want to be sure I get everything."

"Sure, no problem." I said lightly, running my fingers through my hair. It was a nervous habit that I had picked up since coming to high school. He grinned broadly at me.

"Thanks. You're the best, Kim." he said, standing up from his desk. He kicked Paul's leg roughly. I stifled a laugh as Paul grunted and glanced up with bleary eyes. I waved goodbye to Jared and he gave me another broad smile as I left the classroom.

I didn't see Jared again until the end of the day. He intercepted me coming out of my eighth period math class. Paul was in my Pre-Calculus class and had probably been his source for my location. I was surprised he had gone through the effort of finding me, when he could have just returned the notes to me the next morning. He beamed when he saw me.

"Here are your notes." he said, handing them to me, "Thanks."

"No problem, I'm glad they were useful." I said with a smile. So apparently taking notes was a good idea.

"Yeah, definitely." he nodded, "I owe you. Do you need a ride home or something?"

"Actually, a ride would be great." I admitted, pushing my dark hair behind my left ear. "If you don't mind?"

I had been planning on walking that day. I usually got a ride home with Jackie and our friend Val, who were both on the school's track team. Most days I had volley ball practice anyway and the two sports let out around the same time, so it was easier to carpool. But practice had been cancelled this week, because our coach was in Phoenix for a funeral, which meant that I could either walk home or wait around for the track team to finish up.

"No problem. Do you need to get anything first?" he asked, glancing down the hallway towards the lockers. I quickly explained that I needed to drop off my Pre-calculus book and began walking down the hallway towards the senior locker bay. He followed after me, asking me simple questions about my day as we went. He seemed genuinely interested in how my lunch was and what we were reading in my A.P. Literature class as compared to his standard level one.

"I don't like reading much. Or writing essays for that matter." he admitted, leaning against the locker next to mine on one shoulder. I smiled and grabbed my sweatshirt from the hook where I had hung it that morning.

"Not your thing? I don't mind it, it's numbers that I'm no good at." I said and dropped my Pre-Calculus book into the locker carelessly.

"See I like math. It makes so much more sense then all that interpretation in books and things." he explained. I grabbed the one notebook and textbook I needed for homework that night and slammed the locker door shut. He took the books from me casually and continued talking, without acknowledging the gesture. "I like things to be logical, you know?"

"Well I guess I'll be calling you when I'm pulling my hair out over matrices." I laughed. He nodded eagerly and reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out his cell phone.

"Yeah, definitely. Let me get your number." he said. I gave it to him and he called me so I could save his number in my contacts. We headed out towards the senior parking lot. He drove a beat up Nissan and he placed my books in the back of the car as I jumped into the passenger seat. He turned the ignition and the car spluttered to life. He paused for a moment and leaned over to reach into the glove compartment. From it he pulled out an iTrip and plugged it into the iPod that he had just taken out of his pocket.

"What kind of music do you like?" he asked me after a moment of fiddling with the radio and the iPod. I shrugged.

"I'm not picky. Anything really." He gave me a look and smirked.

"Seriously, what do you like?" he insisted. I sighed and reached for his iPod. He handed it over without hesitation and watched me carefully as I skimmed through it. I landed on one of my favorite bands of all time, the Goo Goo Dolls, and scrolled through their albums until I found my favorite song. I grinned as the opening notes filled the car and Jared smiled too.

"Good choice." he commented, as he put the car into reverse and pulled out of his parking spot, "Classic."

We talked easily about music for the rest of the ride home. He admitted, after some pushing on my part, that he sometimes knew what Taylor Swift was singing about and I confessed that I still loved Britney Spears, even if she was certifiably insane. I found talking to him was easy, as he guided the car down the road with one hand on the steering wheel, alternating between glancing at the road and looking at me. The smiles never left either of our faces. He pulled into my driveway and dust kicked up behind his car as it bumped down the unpaved path. My house was secluded, by the woods near the borders of the Rez. It was small, just three bedrooms and one story, but between my parents and older brother, it was enough. He reached behind his seat to grab my books for me and held them out to me with a charming smile. I took them as I reached for the door handle.

"Thanks for the ride." I said, with a grateful nod.

"No problem." he replied, his tone easy, but a strained longing was reflected in his eyes as I pushed the door open. He stayed in the car and watched me walk to my door. It wasn't until I slammed it shut that I heard the engine kick up and the sounds of tire on dirt. I leaned against the door, holding my books to my chest for a few minutes while I ran through the day. Strange.

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><p>So yeah, I love reviews. Go at it kids.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, so I actually got a little bit of positive feedback about this. I'm going to try to post every day, if I can, but I can promise that you will never have to wait more than a week for a new chapter. As long as those reviews keep coming, that is (hint hint). Seriously, the feedback is great and I'd love to know what you guys want to see happening for Jared and Kim, because I'd love some outside opinions. Thanks everyone!

**Disclaimer: **As per usual, Twilight is not my creation.

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><p>I collapsed onto my bed and allowed my books to fall haphazardly onto the floor next to me. I pulled my cell phone from my bag and flipped it open to find that I had several un-read text messages. One was from Ian, asking if I could call him later. I probably wouldn't, but I texted him to say I would if I had time. There were several from various friends, updating me on the events of the day that I had missed out on. I dialed Tara's number and rolled over on the bed, making myself comfortable so that she could fill me in on her latest bit of gossip. I'd seen her in between on of my classes and she had demanded I call her to hear about her latest boy drama. I was surprised that her phone went unanswered.<p>

The house was deserted and would be until much later. My parents had gone to visit my ailing grandmother in Nevada and we weren't sure when they would be coming back. I had no idea where Marcus had gotten off to. He was nineteen, but still lived at home and attended the local community college. I liked my brother well enough and we got along best when our parents left us to our own devices. I assumed if he wasn't in the house now, he probably wasn't planning on being home for dinner. I glanced at the clock. It was 2:31. With a loud, self pitying sigh I grabbed my lap-top and began to aimlessly surf the web. I checked facebook and twitter out of habit, my email as well and then mindlessly began to click through the most recently posted photos on my facebook feed. The next time I looked up, well over an hour had gone by. I shut my laptop and glanced around the room. It was way too quiet. Thankfully, the silence was broken by my cell phone going off. I flipped it open and held it to my ear without checking to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Okay, seriously, how can you stand this?" came the voice from the other end. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin.

"Stand what, Jared?" I asked, amazed that he was calling me.

"Well I'm reading my book for Lit." he explained and I heard pages shuffling on the other end, "Reading it, not looking on Sparknotes, and I want to gouge my eyes out."

I laughed.

"Well what book are you reading?" I asked him, trying to remember if he had mentioned it earlier.

"The Grapes of Wrath." he responded and I could practically hear the sour expression on his face.

"Well that would do it. No one likes the Grapes of Wrath."

"With good reason." he conceded, 'What are you doing? Diving into that Calculus work?"

I rolled over onto my stomach and propped myself up on my elbows, keeping the phone to my ear as I did so.

"Absolutely not. I'm just sitting around the house by myself. My family has abandoned me, it seems." I replied, looking around my room aimlessly. There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"You're alone?" he asked after a minute.

"Mmhmm." Another pause on the line.

"Do you want some company?" he asked and I could hear the hesitance that laced his voice.

Really? He wanted to keep me company? I was taken aback by what seemed to be blatant interest on his part. Ignoring any common sense that I had, I allowed myself to become hopeful, something that I hadn't felt for him since I was thirteen.

"Sure, I'd love some." I replied, keeping my voice as even and clear as possible.

"Awesome, give me five minutes." And with that, the phone clicked on the other line. I got up and quickly began to pick up the clothes that scattered the floor of my room. My jeans from yesterday, the hot pink bra that I had tossed to the ground when I realized it could be seen through my shirt and the four sweaters I had considered wearing this morning were all stuffed into my hamper. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was still straight, the way that I had styled it that morning before school and my daily combination of black mascara and mocha eyeliner was still in place. I had on what I had worn to school that day, black leggings, a simple white tank top and an oversized navy blue cardigan. I usually paired this with ski socks and warm boots. January in Washington was cold and I did my best to stay as warm as possible.

There was a knock on the door and I made my way through the house as quickly as I could without hurtling into a wall. I slowed down as I got to the front door and opened it. He seemed visibly relieved when his eyes met mine, like he finally let out a breath that he had been holding in. I smiled.

"Hey." I said quietly. He didn't make any motion to enter the house right away.

"Hey yourself." he replied and I realized that I was blocking the door. I took a step to the left and he ducked under our low door frame to enter the house. The Connweller family was notoriously short, none of us making it past the 5'9" mark. My brother currently held that record height. Jared was well over 6 feet and I barely reached his shoulder. I idly wandered into the kitchen and he followed after me.

"Do you want some food or something?" I asked him, leaning my elbows on the island that was in the center of the kitchen. He glanced around for a moment and then shrugged.

"I'm always hungry. If you're making something, I never turn down food." he said with a grin. I smiled. It was already well past 4:00, so I might as well start in on making dinner. I pulled open the freezer door and stared at it's contents. My mother had been careful to stock the house with canned soups and frozen dinners. She knew neither my brother or I could cook and it was better for our meals to be pre-made, to avoid house fires and starvation.

"We have frozen pizza." I offered, pulling out one of the large cardboard boxes. He nodded eagerly and I set to work opening the box and pre-heating the oven. "I can't cook for my life." I added conversationally, as I waited for the oven to warm up. He smiled at me and came to stand on my left.

"Well it's a good thing I like frozen pizza then." he replied. As I tossed the empty pizza box in the trash, he glanced around the kitchen again, trying to get a feel for the house. "So your parents are gone?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, they're visiting my grandma in Nevada." I replied, as I pushed myself up to sit on the counter. He leaned on the sink opposite me. He looked surprised.

"How long are they gone for? You aren't here alone, are you?" I felt my stomach flutter at his concern. Clearly when I'd said they'd left, he thought I had meant for the evening. I ran my fingers through my black hair to calm myself a bit and let out a light chuckle.

"No, my older brother's home, but he's just out for the night." Jared seemed to relax a little at this news, like the idea of me being home alone was unusually upsetting for him. I watched him curiously for a long moment before I realized I was staring and looked away before he could catch on.

"You have siblings?" I asked, in an effort to get the conversation off of myself. His expression brightened considerably.

"My little sister." he said as a broad smile appeared on his face, "Katie. She's nine."

"Good age." I murmured, with a half smile. He laughed.

"Yeah, as long as she stays that way." he said lightly, "If she never gets older than ten, I'll be happy."

"What, you don't trust those middle school boys?" I teased, scooting off of the counter to grab a can of soda from the fridge. I held one out to him and noticed his features darken at the mention of boys.

"Not in the slightest."

"I wish my brother had been like that." I said wistfully, returning to my seat opposite him, "Protective. Marcus isn't really the type." He laughed again. I loved the sound of his laugh, more so now than ever before.

"No you don't. I already know she's going to think I'm full of shit the minute she turns thirteen." he said. I smiled and gave him a nod of consideration. He was probably right and, if Marcus had been the protective type, he probably would be here at the moment. And that was something that I certainly didn't want. I didn't know why Jared had given up his evening to spend it with a girl that he had never associated with, but I wasn't going to question it. The oven beeped and I pulled the pizza off the counter and carefully placed it inside the oven. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jared become tense as I leaned into the heat to place the pizza on the rack. He relaxed as soon as I closed the oven door.

Fifteen minutes later we were sitting on the couch in my living room, with all of my families DVD's spread on the coffee table and hot pizza balanced on plates in our laps.

"How can you think that Phantom Menace was the worst one? Didn't you see Revenge of the Sith?" he argued, setting his pizza down so that he could accent his point with his hands. "Three hours of Anakin Skywalker _brooding_ almost ruined the entire series for me."

"I'm sorry!" I defended, "But come on! He goes from being like...nine or something to being super hot Hayden Christensen and Padme looks _exactly _the same age in all three. How does that make sense?"

He shook his head, clearly determined to convince me that he was in the right.

"I don't know, she got some space botox or something. Whatever. He fucking _kills_ her in the third one anyway. Out of love! What sense does that make?" he exclaimed animatedly, before he paused, remembering something I had said, "You think Hayden Christensen is hot?"

I nodded and he gave me a skeptical look. He almost looked offended, but it was so faintly mixed into his expression that I couldn't be entirely sure if it was really there. I couldn't remember how we had gotten on the topic of how disappointing the Star Wars prequels had been, but our original plan of watching a movie had been forgotten. Jared seemed to be considering what to say next.

"I guess he's _okay._" he said with a hint of sarcasm and then added as an afterthought,"There are hotter guys out there."

"Oh yeah? Like you?" I teased, shoving his shoulder playfully. He grinned triumphantly, clearly he had been hoping I would bring him up.

"Glad you agree."

"I'm not _agreeing._" I protested with a playful smile, "Remind me to buy you a mirror for your birthday."

His grin, if possible, spread even further them. He seemed pleased with himself and I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Planning for my birthday already?", he chuckled slightly.

I shoved him again. It didn't seem to do much of anything, except maybe make me smile.

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><p>Alright guys...hit that nice review button 3<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Alright so here's another chapter. You guys finally get to meet Marcus! Personally, I'm already thinking he's going to be a whole lot of fun, but let me know what you all think. And keep those reviews coming!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. The franchise isn't mine!

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><p>I woke up cold. Granted, I was cold by nature, always opting to add another layer of blankets or another sweater onto the pile. Falling asleep on the couch without any kind of coverage wasn't exactly my ideal. The only part of me that wasn't covered in goose bumps was the small part of my stomach that Jared's massive hand managed to reach from where he was sprawled out on the floor. At this realization, my mind rewound to the night before. We had been up late, watching movies and talking about...everything. Every topic that anyone could possibly imagine had been crossed in the hours that we had spent working our way through the supply of frozen foods my mother had left for me and Marcus. Shit. Where was Marcus? Either he hadn't come home last night or he had, seen us, and then just went about minding his own business. He really was lousy at the whole protective brother thing, but in this particular circumstance, I didn't really mind much.<p>

Jared was passed out, despite the fact that I had actively twisted around to get an idea of my surroundings. There were plates scattered on the floor and the television was still on, with a DVD menu playing on repeat. His hand was heavy on my body and, now that I focused on it, ridiculously hot. Tentatively I reached down and lifted it off me, settling his arm beside him on the ground. I stepped over his body and made my way into the kitchen. The house was starting to flood with grey light, as sign that we hadn't slept late enough to miss school. It was just after seven, nothing to worry about. I set the kettle on the stove and cranked it up to high, so the water could boil. As I did so, I heard an audible groan coming from the living room. There was a short pause and some shuffling.

"Kim?" he almost sounded...alarmed. Before I could answer, he wandered into the kitchen, letting out a breath when his eyes fell on mine. He grinned broadly and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Morning." I greeted, with a nod.

"Morning." he replied, "Sorry about last night. I guess we must have just fallen asleep."

"It's fine. I like the company." That was the truth. I never liked falling asleep in an empty house and Marcus hadn't come home until late, I was sure. Jared stretched his massive arms over his head and yawned.

"God, I haven't slept so well in..." he paused, thinking for a moment, "Well, a while, anyway."

I nodded. I wasn't sure if that was the best sleep of my life, but I had definitely slept well for someone curled up on a lumpy old sofa. There was a pause.

"Shouldn't you like, call your parents or something?"

"Nah." he shrugged, waving off the suggestion, "They probably didn't even notice I was gone."

I rolled my eyes.

"Wouldn't that be nice." I muttered, fixing myself a mug of tea and taking a long sip from it. He laughed, his genuine, barking laugh that I was already starting to become accustomed to.

"So listen." he started, leaning on his palms against the counter, "I was going to drive home and grab a new shirt, but do you want me to come back and give you a ride to school?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that." I said, shaking my head. He grinned.

"You didn't. I offered."

I considered this for a moment. I felt guilty that he had fallen asleep on the floor and didn't want him going out of his way to pick me up and take me to school. Still, I enjoyed his company and whatever twist of fate that had him paying attention to me probably wouldn't last forever. And who knew, maybe spending time with him would end the crush I'd had on him for so long.

"As long as you don't mind..." I trailed off.

"I don't. I'll be back in ten." he promised as he made his way to the door. He paused and checked that the stove was off, grinned at me sheepishly and then was gone. When the door clicked shut I bolted up the stairs. I had several messages on my phone, one from Ian, asking why I hadn't called, but I ignored it. In a frenzy, I shimmed out of my clothes from the night before and tossed them into the hamper in my closet. I found a new pair of leggings and one of my favorite oversized sweaters and pulled them on. Satisfied, I sat down at my vanity and began to fix my hair. I was on to my eye liner when I noticed another figure in the mirror behind me. I jumped and spun around, with my hand clapped over my frantic heart.

"Jesus Marcus!" I exclaimed, "You scared the shit out of me. I didn't even know you were home."

My brother grinned broadly at me and leaned against the doorframe.

"Obviously." he replied, "So we're making overnight guests okay for when mom and dad are gone? Because I am _more _than fine with that idea."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I swear to God, Marc, if you wake me up with crazy sex noises in the middle of the night, I'll tell Mom about the time you gave me weed when I was fourteen." I warned. He held up his hands, palms towards me, defensively.

"You asked me to give that to you. And anyway, you're a better person for it." he said, "But threat noted. As long as I don't have to hear you and your newest victim either."

I rolled my eyes. Marcus had always believed me to be something of a man eater. Not that my actions did much to dispute this, but of all people to believe the worst of me, it was disappointing that one of them was my own brother.

"It's not like that." I muttered, spinning around in my chair and returning to my makeup. Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Here we go again. Another boy in love with you." he sighed, "Another boy you'll get bored with eventually." I glared at him through the mirror.

"Get out Marcus. And don't let any of the girls you bring home touch my stuff."

"Fine. Your boytoy is waiting downstairs, by the way." he said, heading back down the hall to his room, "Have fun."

Annoyed, I grabbed my purse from my bed and took the steps two at a time downstairs. Sure enough, Jared was sitting at the kitchen counter, a backpack slung over one shoulder and a fresh t-shirt on his back. I smiled.

"Did Marcus let you in?" Lord only knows what my brother could have said to him and I almost didn't even want to know. Jared glanced back at the door.

"It was unlocked." he said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the door, "You really shouldn't do that, it's dangerous."

I nodded. Jared swung his keys around his index finger and began to make his way outside of the house. I followed after him. We climbed into his car and he handed me his iPod without a word. I began searching through his list of artists as he turned the key in the ignition. However he didn't move the car. There was a pause and I looked up to find him staring at me. Before I could ask what he was looking at, he leaned over and grabbed my seatbelt. His unusually warm hand brushed against my arm and I swear to God I felt a spark. He clicked the seatbelt, smiled in satisfaction and then put the car in reverse, pulling out of the driveway.

"So your parents didn't say anything about you being out all night?" I asked him, as we made our way down the road.

"Nah. They're used to it." he replied lightly. I looked at him and he met my eyes, realizing the implication, "I mean I've been working late nights for Sam Uley."

"Doing what?" I asked and Jared hesitated.

"Odd jobs. Helping him out and stuff like that." He answered after a moment. I vaguely knew who Sam Uley was, from various things that people around the Rez had said. I was a little surprised that Jared was doing work for him. He seemed to have plenty going on, with his friends and his enviable spot on the La Push track team. Still, I didn't press him on it, since it seemed he wasn't interested in going into details about it.

It only took a few minutes to get to school. Again, Jared took my books from me as we were walking across the senior parking lot. I frowned at him.

"You don't have to carry those." I told him. He looked a bit surprised, but tucked them under his arm regardless.

"I want to." he said back. I stopped.

"Why?"

"I don't know." he said, stopping too and shrugging.

"Yes you do, otherwise you'd just give them back." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn't know why I was making such a big deal over it, but it was just such an odd thing for him to be so stubborn about. He ran his hand over the top of his head in frustration.

"Because it's chivalrous or something."

"And you carry every girl's books for her then?" I asked skeptically and he rolled his eyes.

"No, just the ones that matter." he said and I could tell that the words had gotten out before his brain had processed them. His eyes got a little wide and I was sure mine had too. There was a strange sort of silence that hung between us for a minute or two. Finally, I broke it.

"I matter to you?" I asked. This was just too weird and as much as I wanted to laugh in his face and leave, there was that part of me that had loved him for so long. The part of me that wasn't allowing me to walk away from him. He got a little shy then, realizing he probably shouldn't have said something so forward and he started walking towards the school again. I fell in step next to him, watching him with questioning eyes.

"Obviously you do." he muttered, finally unable to avoid my stare. I blinked.

"No, not obvious." I stated, "Not to me, at least."

We were close to my homeroom now, a few feet from the door, and he stopped again.

"Kim." he said, looking in my eyes and holding out my books, "You matter to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll...uh. I'll see you in first period?" he asked, glancing down the hall. I nodded, processing his words as I ducked into my homeroom class just in time for the bell. I fell into the seat next to Jackie, feeling relieved to be around my best friend.

"Shit, Kim. You look like you've seen an alien or something?" she said, glancing at me with concern, "What's up?"

"I'm swearing you to best friend secrecy." I warned her, holding up a finger. Jackie had a big mouth and I knew it. I knew it was unlikely that she would keep my secret, but I really didn't care, I had to tell someone.

"Ooh, sounds like this will be good. You get back together with Ian last night?" she asked, sitting up a little straighter and leaning forward. I gave her a look.

"No. Not at all." I said, "But Jared Cameron spent the night on my floor."

"Since when are you friends with Jared?" she asked, looking confused. I shrugged.

"Since I lent him my government notes and he drove me home." I replied, "Apparently. I'm not crazy, it's super weird, right?"

"Fucking weird." she agreed with a nod, "What do you even talk to him about?"

"I don't know. Normal stuff." I said, "Movies, music. School."

"Huh."

"He just told me I 'matter to him'. Has a guy ever told you that?" I asked her. I almost hadn't mentioned it, but I couldn't help myself. Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't Ian tell you he loved you?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"This was different. Jared _meant_ it."

"So did Ian." she pointed out. She really wasn't going to back off Team Ian and Kim anytime soon. The bell rang and I made my way to Government in a daze. Jared perked up when I entered the classroom. I slid into my seat, unsure of what to say to him.

"Hey Kim." he whispered, just as the teacher began to lecture.

"You can't just do that." I muttered back after a moment. I had been trying to decide if I was going to pretend he hadn't said anything, but had decided against keeping my mouth shut.

"Do what?"

"Make statements like that." I whispered back fiercely, "Tell me I matter when you started talking to me yesterday."

"What I have to talk to you for weeks to know I like talking to you?" he demanded in a hushed tone.

"No but you should keep it to yourself if it's less than twenty four hours."

"Wasn't aware that was a rule."

"It's common sense!" I snapped, louder than I had intended, glaring at him as I said it.

"Miss. Connweller and Mr. Cameron." Our teacher had stopped talking and the entire class was now turned around in their seats, staring at us. "Why don't you take this conversation down to the main office? I'm sure the principal can help you sort out your issues."

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><p>Reviews make me type faster!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Wow, I am so amazed by all the positive things you guys have to say about this story. I wrote it for my personal amusement, but I'm so glad you all are enjoying it as well. I wanted to address a question that I was asked about the last chapter. If any of you have questions, feel free to ask and I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Q&A

_Julia James April_ asked if Kim has had sex before and the answer is yes. Granted, Marcus exaggerates, Kim is _not_ as much of a man eater as her brother says (brothers sometimes don't know the fine line between joking and insulting). But it was important to me to write a Kim that isn't a virgin, because my intention was to write a different version of Kim from what I see in many stories about her (hopefully, I am succeeding in this). I don't think it's right that Jared is the only one who can be experienced or who can feel socially accepted, which is why I wrote a Kim who has great friends and who has had relationships, albeit, short lived ones. This issue is definitely going to be addressed in a later chapter and Jared and Kim are certainly going to have a conversation about it eventually. Which is why all of you need to keep reading!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>We mumbled apologies as we both gathered our stuff and made our way out of the classroom. We were in the hall when I turned to glare at him.<p>

"What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?"  
>"Doing what?" he demanded and I growled in frustration.<p>

"This sudden interest!" I replied, "Falling asleep on my floor! Driving me to school!"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I just like being around you?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Why? Why is that so hard for you to accept?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh I don't know, because I've said a collective ten words to you before yesterday?" I offered, "Because you don't even know me?"

"Well I want to know you." he said simply, "Because I've started to get to know you and I like what I've learned. I _like _you."

I placed my palm on my forehead, trying to process what exactly had happened in the past twenty four hours. It was difficult, to say the least. This was ridiculous. I let my hand drop to my side with a sigh.

"Do you want to get out of here?" I asked him. He looked surprised.

"Cut school?" He asked, looking amused, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I just want to leave."

He nodded and walked past me, heading down the hall to the doors of the school building. I was starting to get the feeling that he would rarely ever tell me no. That idea caused my stomach to twist up into a a knot. I was confused, to say the least. This sort of thing didn't happen in real life. The boy you secretly had a crush on didn't suddenly start showing an interest out of no where.

We made it to his car in silence. He opened my door for me and I slipped in. He turned the key in the ignition, but didn't take the car out of park. He just sat there for a long while with both hands on the wheel and a puzzled expression on his face. Finally, he turned to look at me.

"Don't be mad at me." he said and I almost caught the pleading look in his eye before it was gone, "I just like to be around you. I didn't know it before, but now I do."

I didn't know what to say to that. I was never very good with moments like this one and so I pushed my hair behind my ear and stared back at him.

"Let's go to the beach."

He nodded and pulled the car out of the senior parking lot. The conversation picked up from there, as if we hadn't just bickered our way out of the school. He had about a million question for me, everything from my favorite color to what I did over the past summer. It was as if he was trying to learn everything about me in the ten minute car ride to the beach.

"But I had work most of the time," I was midway through explaining my summer job at the Parks and Rec in Forks, "Ian and I went to the beach like every day after the summer camps let out, which was nice I guess, but it was always getting dark by the time we got there. And then Jax wanted to go shopping every other weekend, typical." I rolled my eye to accent this. He seemed to be focusing hard on my words, processing them one by one.

"You dated him, right?" he asked and I couldn't help but flinch. I was surprised that he knew. La Push High School was small, our senior class had forty or so kids in it and that was considered large by our standards. Regardless of this, I had imagined myself to be completely off his radar before yesterday.

"Yeah, most of spring semester, into the summer." I replied, hiding my surprise as best as I possibly could. Maybe he had checked up on me, but I doubted that. I'd been with him for most of the past 24 hours. There wasn't much he could have found out without me knowing. His jaw got a bit tight and he nodded.

"Why'd you break up?" he asked. I could tell he was trying to be as casual as possible with this question. I laughed without even thinking.

"Because I'm a lousy girlfriend I guess." I replied, out of habit. This was the response I always gave. If I had thought about it, I would have come up with a different excuse. I didn't want to scare him off. Instead, he grinned.

"Why's that?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, "Aren't girlfriend's supposed to spend hours on the phone talking to their guy and want to spend every minute they can with them?"

"Just because you don't want that, doesn't make you a bad girlfriend." he replied.

"What does it make me then?" I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest.

"It makes you the girl who's with the wrong guy."

I had to smile a bit then. No one had ever told me that Ian hadn't been the right guy for me. My parents loved him and Jax was waving the Kim and Ian banner around like it was her job. There had been a point in our relationship where I had just assumed I was the one with the problem for not seeing it all along.

"Yeah. Maybe that's it." I shrugged, though I couldn't even convince myself that I believed it. It was as if Jared knew I wanted to change the subject. We pulled into the shoulder of the road anyway, right by where the path down to the beach began. We were in one of the more secluded coastal areas of the Rez. There wasn't a lot of parking here, which was why people tended to go elsewhere. But it was early morning on a weekday and the beach was deserted. We made our way down the path towards the water in silence.

"So where are you thinking of going to school?" I asked him. I hadn't decided if I was going to go to community college like my brother or try for a scholarship from a different school. I had never been far from home for any length of time and I knew my parents wouldn't be able to afford an expensive school. Still, the idea of going away to college was appealing and I liked to keep the option on the table. Jared's face, however, darkened.

"I'm not." he said flatly, "I've got that job working for Sam, so I'm staying here."

"No community college? I was thinking I might do that."

He glanced at me and his expression was almost wistful.

"You should do that. I wish I could."

"Well it's either that or praying for a good scholarship somewhere else." I said, with a shrug. This seemed to upset him. He frowned and his eyes seemed to get stormy. He tensed for a moment, before he inhaled deeply and stilled.

"You would leave?" he asked in a strained tone. I was taken aback by his reaction.

"If I didn't have a reason to stay."

He glanced at me now, his eyes searching. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it and he pursed his lips.

"What might be a good reason?" he asked, eyeing me curiously. I shrugged. I had never really considered what might make me stay in La Push. Money would make me stay and if my parents asked me to, I probably wouldn't leave them. I would have to have a reason though, one that wasn't fear or homesickness or something else that I could overcome. It would have to be for something real.

"I'll know it when I see it." I replied after a moment and he smiled.

We sat like that for hours, sometimes in silence and sometimes in animated conversation. Aside from the night at my house, I had never really had the chance to get to know Jared. My longstanding crush on him hadn't been founded on much more than childhood whimsy and imagination. I didn't really know anything about him. But the more I talked to him, the more I liked him. It was like all this time, I had only seen him in black and white and speaking to him was slowly bringing him into color.

It was noon when he glanced at his cell phone. I had heard his stomach beginning to grumble a half an hour earlier, but as not to embarrass him, I hadn't mentioned it.

"You wanna get something to eat?" he asked, getting to his feet and holding out a hand to me. His hand was still unusually warm, but I took it regardless. He pulled me into a standing position and I nodded, before heading back towards the road, Jared right behind me. Climbing into his car was starting to become the norm for me, a habit and I wasn't the slightest bit opposed to that.

"Seatbelt." he reminded me and I rolled my eyes before clicking it across my lap. His concern was certainly endearing, to say the least.

He took me to the diner that was right over the line of the Rez and Forks. There wasn't really a lot to the Rez anyway. The beaches were pretty and there was an autoshop and a coffee joint and a bar, but other than that, most kids who grew up there went over to Forks for entertainment. The diner was where everyone went after a school play or a track meet. Track was the go-to sport in La Push, because we didn't have enough kids in our high school for a competitive football team. Even still, it wasn't as if we were breaking state records. It was just nice to have some school pride.

Jared held the door for me. I could tell that the elderly waitress suspected we were cutting school, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she just glared at Jared a bit and looked at me disapprovingly while she took our orders. Jared ordered two entrees and an appetizer while I stuck to a short stack and some tea. He quirked a smile in my direction and raised his eyebrow. I smiled sheepishly and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"What?" I asked, "I like breakfast."

"I can see that." he said, grinning broadly now. I sighed and gently pushed his leg with my foot under the table. There were more disapproving looks from the waitress, but Jared didn't notice at all.

"I think she knows we're cutting school." I said in a low voice, leaning over the table towards him. He leaned in too, close enough that I could feel his breath on my face.

"You scared of getting caught?" he teased and I snorted lightly.

"Oh please. She can't do anything."

"Jesus. Didn't know you were such a bad girl, Kim." he replied lightly. I couldn't help but grin.

"That's because you don't know me." I said back, in a playful tone. It was still true though. Thirty something hours was not what friendships were made of. Or great romances, if it ever got that far. He clearly didn't have a response, but instead he just stared back at me, his eyes flickering to my lips a dead give away to his thoughts. I almost thought I saw him lean closer.

I didn't find out if he did or not, however, as the waitress chose that moment to squeeze her way between us with our food. He fell back into his seat, looking slightly disappointed. I was a bit relieved. I knew better than this. Boys didn't just come out of the woodwork the way that Jared had since yesterday. And getting involved with Jared could mean burning bridges with Ian and a lecture about falling to fast from Jackie. I wasn't at a point where I wanted to explain much of anything to her, let alone face Ian. Assuming Jared and I were even on the same page at all.

Hell, I didn't even know what book it was.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

I am so excited about keeping this going...we're getting closer and closer to some Jared/Kim lovin' and I'm itching to get that going. Marcus and Jackie are back in this chapter. Ian hasn't shown up yet, I know, but he is actually going to make his debut in Chapter 6, so get excited!

Q&A

_JAStheSPAZZrocks _asked what happened to Kim and Ian's relationship. You'll find out! It's in the next chapter, so I'm keeping you all in the dark just a little while longer. _  
><em>

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

As a side note- I am NOT encouraging underage drinking, so please don't take Kim's social life as encouragement to go out and get trashed.

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><p>He dropped me off at home and I could tell from his body language that I could have invited him inside without any kind of weirdness. But I needed a break from this. The time that I had been spending with him felt like living someone else's life. What I wanted more than anything was to curl up in my bed and watch television in a vain effort to drown out the inevitable over-analysis of everything that had happened. I was doing my best not to read too much into a single thing that Jared had said or done in the time I'd spent with him. It was a damn near impossible task.<p>

I entered the house to find that Marcus was waiting for me at the kitchen table. He had on that smug expression that he usually got whenever I did something wrong. Marcus and I were actually a lot closer than we usually let on. We had bonded at a young age, when Marcus had decided it was us against our parents. We used to watch the Simpsons after school when Marcus was ten and old enough to watch me himself. We swore to each other that we would never tell our parents and, to this day, they still haven't found out. This policy of keeping each others secrets from our parents became a habit of ours as we got older, but it didn't stop Marcus from getting smug when he knew he had something on me.

I grabbed a diet soda from the fridge and sat down at the table next to him.

"Alright, out with it." I said, popping the can of soda open, "What did you find out?"

"So the school called." he said conversationally. I rolled my eyes. The policy of calling home for missed classes was new this year and I had forgotten that they would figure out I had cut classes. Lucky for me, my parents weren't home.

"And what did you tell them?"

"That you weren't feeling well and I came to pick you up." he shrugged, "Then I apologized for not following protocol and blamed it on the fact that our parents are out of town. Nice lady at the office bought it."

I smiled gratefully.

"You are the best, Marc." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. He grinned broadly.

"Yeah, I know." he said, "And because you now owe me, we're having a party on Friday and you have to bring your hot, _lightweight_ friends."

I rolled my eyes. Marcus was a little less than two years older than me and had no problem telling me which of my friends he thought were attractive. Hell, he'd made out with Jax once back when we had been freshmen and he was a junior. My friends thought he was cute, usually, so I always brought a few of them to the parties that Marcus would throw. He appreciated it and his friends definitely did as well.

"Only if you get me the vodka I like." I said and he chuckled. He knew I was in and I knew that I didn't even have to ask for my vodka for him to have it for me. If only our mother knew what being good siblings meant to us.

Marcus began texting his buddies a minute later, pulling together the crowds for our party. I would deal with it later. If I told Jax about it, she'd have the whole school coming by Friday. it was better for me to tell her on Thursday during homeroom, so it wouldn't have time to spread through the entire senior class. I made my way up the stairs, down the hall and into my room, where I curled up in the blankets on my bed and reached for the remote to turn on the television on my nightstand.

I was halfway through a re-run of The Office when my phone went off. I snatched it up from the nightstand and glanced at the caller ID. Of course, Tara would be calling to update me on what I had missed today. I flipped the phone open and held it to my ear.

"Hey Tara." I greeted, putting the television on mute.

"Are you sleeping with Jared?" she asked. No greeting, just business. I sat upright in my bed, folding my body to sit cross legged.

"What?" I asked, slightly shocked, "Who told you that?"

"No one, no one." she said quickly, "It's just that Andrew saw you walking out to the senior parking lot with him during first period. I thought you might be sneaking out for some secret sex."

"Secret sex? Really?" I asked her.

"I wouldn't mind secret sex with Jared Cameron." she said nonchalantly. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of possessiveness at her comment. It was off-handed and not really serious, just a note of the fact that Tara found him attractive. Still, I felt like she was stepping in on my territory.

"Well I wouldn't know anything about it." I replied.

"Pity, very few people look that good after having mono." she sighed. I laughed. No one really knew if Jared had had mono or not, but that seemed to be the most likely reason for the weeks that he had been absent. It was strange, because mono didn't seem to be going around and it was assumed that if he did have mono, he must have gotten it from someone in Forks or even the next town over. Small places like La Push always seemed to perpetuate gossip like that.

After a few more minutes of Tara's latest updates on the students at La Push High School, she hung up the phone to call Jax, saying something about a scandal on the cross country team. I wasn't as much of a gossip as Tara and Jax could be, but I still had an interest in the latest going ons of my class. It took a minute for the phone call to really sink in. if Tara knew I'd left school with Jared, then Jackie was definitely going to know be the next morning. I groaned at the thought, rolling over and burying my face into my pillow.

Sure enough, I was right. As I slid into my homeroom seat the next morning, she turned to face me, propping her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hand.

"Ok. You have to tell me what's going on with you." she demanded. If she had work to do, it certainly wasn't going to get done now. Jax tended to have tunnel vision when it came to things like this. I wasn't even really sure what to tell her. It wasn't like I was secretly dating Jared or sleeping with him. We were getting along, hanging out like any friends would. Sure, he may have driven me to school that morning, but I wasn't about to get heartbroken from reading too much into anything that he did.

"What are you talking about? Nothing's going on with me." I rolled my eyes. It was better just to avoid the situation all together. Jax narrowed her eyes.

"Oh don't play dumb, Kimmie." she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms, "You cut school yesterday with _Jared Cameron._"

"I told we'd been hanging out, Jax." I replied evenly.

"You didn't tell me you were spending every other minute with him." she said, glancing at the clock, "And you're on time today too. Has he been _driving _you?"

"So what if he has been?" I said defensively. Her questions were starting to get to me. It wasn't as if I hadn't tried to talk to her about this yesterday. Now that there was sex involved, or at least a rumor about sex, she was interested.

"It's fine if he has, I just want to know."

"Well yeah...he's been driving me to school."

"Ok."

Jackie was silent then. She looked down at her desk, shuffling her papers around in a way that made it obvious she was holding back her opinion on something. She did this for a minute or two before I sighed. I loved Jackie, I really did, but I knew she had a bad habit of being opinionated. Getting Jackie to see a way other than her own was a near impossible feat and I had only managed it on a few rare occasions.

"What is it Jackie?" She looked back at me with slightly guilty eyes. I knew her too well. We had been best friends since we were little kids. I could read her like a book.

"I thought you were going to get back with Ian." she muttered.

And there it was. I had never said that I was going to get back together with Ian, but I hadn't said I wasn't going to either. As much a I was enjoying spending time with Jared, Ian was at least more familiar. As my mother always said, better the devil you know than the one you don't. But the unfamiliarity of Jared was so appealing, the idea of being with Ian paled in comparison. It was just another reason to add to my ever growing list.

"I'm not going to get back together with Ian." I told her, giving her the honest-to-God truth on the matter. I felt bad for not saying it sooner.

"Are you dating Jared?"

"_No._"

"Ok then." she said with a slight smile. I smiled back and felt the tension melt away between us.

"Now can we please talk about your love life instead of mine." I said. Jackie just laughed and shook her head.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Ian is finally going to show up in this chapter! In other news, remember how I said I had written a bunch of the story and it was just sitting in a word doc on my computer? Well we've reached the point where I've run out of 'pre-written' chapters, which means that my updates might take a bit longer from here on out. I'll try to update as often as possible, since I'm just as eager to see how this ends as you all are.

Q&A

_JAStheSPAZZrocks _asked about their parents. I really wasn't planning on having them come back. They're visiting Kim's sick grandmother in Nevada and I was sort of thinking I'd just keep them there. Unless you guys want to meet the Connwellers...haha. And Kim and Marcus don't dislike them, it's just that they've formed a relationship where one will lie to their parents to cover for the other. It's a sibling bond, I guess haha. My sister and I cover for each other all the time. _  
><em>

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

As a side note- AGAIN I am NOT encouraging underage drinking, so please don't take Kim's social life as encouragement to go out and get trashed.

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><p>As promised, Jackie had invited half of our senior class to my brother's party, and that was just the count at two in the afternoon on Friday. She was keeping me updated with regular text messages on who was coming and who wasn't. I had debated for several hours over whether or not to invite Jared. He had been driving me to and from school every day this week and he had taken to coming inside after to hang out for a few hours. We usually just watched TV and chatted about whatever came to mind. I had never really had guy friends. Most of my friends were girls and I didn't tend to stay friends with the boys that I dated. There were guys that I was <em>friendly <em>with, but it wasn't really the same. I felt comfortable around Jared, like I could tell him absolutely anything. But I still wasn't sure if I should be inviting him to this party. It was made up of mostly my friends and Marcus'. Jared was separate from that group and part of me liked it that way. The other part of me wanted to show off our newfound friendship.

I finally made a decision on the matter Friday afternoon, as Jared and I were lounging on the couch. I was stretched out, with my unusually cold feet tucked under his thigh I had decided he was going to be my personal space heater the day before, when he told me that he was always that warm, naturally. I was twirling my hair absentmindedly around my index finger when I finally got the guts to bring it up.

"So my brother is having a party tonight." I said, as if it was offhand and not premeditated. He chuckled a bit.

"I heard."

"So you want to come?" I asked him, tilting my head up a bit to look at him.

"I'll have to talk to Sam." he said, looking a little disappointed, "But if he lets me out of work, then I'll be there."

"You don't have to. It'll be my friends, Jackie and Tara and some of the girls from the volley ball team." I said, settling my head back onto the armrest, "And a bunch of random people Jackie told. Then Marcus' friends too."

Jared grinned at the guest list.

"Sounds like a rager."

"It better be, we've got_ way_ too much beer for there to be a low turnout."

"Then I'll do my best to be there." he grinned broadly.

"Cool. You can bring your friends if you want." I said, "Paul and them."

He nodded in consideration to this. I didn't mind Paul, but he had been acting weird in Government and Pre-calculus lately. He usually said hi to me in Government after Jared did, but I assumed that was just to be polite. On Wednesday, though, he had decided to move his seat in Pre-Calculus over to where mine was where he talked to me for about a minute before promptly falling asleep. Paul was certainly an odd one.

Jared left around seven, when Marcus came into the living room demanding that we pre-game before people began showing up at nine.

"You're a horrible influence, you know that?" I teased him as I followed him into the kitchen. Marcus was waving a bottle of tequila in the air and grinning like an idiot.

"No I'm not." he laughed, "We've got oranges and cinnamon, right?"

"In the cabinet." I pointed, "Oranges are in the bowl on the counter."

"Awesome." he said, grabbing the fruit and setting the bottle down on the counter. "Let's get trashed little sister."

Safe to say, Marcus made sure that the pair of us were throughly tipsy by the time everyone started to show up. As much as he encouraged my friends to be lightweights who couldn't hold their liquor, he had always held me to a higher standard. One reason, he said, was that he had _wanted _a brother who could do keg stands with him and, since he didn't have one, I would have to fill that role. And the other reason was that he didn't want his little sister becoming easy prey to random party goers. In a twisted sort of way, teaching me to hold my alcohol was Marcus' way of looking out for me.

Jackie had gotten to the house first and had helped me make a serious dent in the liter of vodka that Marcus had given me. As more people began to show up, we stood outside in the cool air. For winter, it was an unusually nice night and not nearly as wet as it could be. Jackie and I directed the cars that came bumping up the dirt road. It was unlikely that the sheriff would have any idea of this. Our house was secluded, with a large amount of space between us and any neighbors. It was also in the woods, no where near the main road of La Push. Unless someone called the party in, we would be perfectly fine. We were laughing, waving our hands around like traffic cops, passing the bottle between us when an all too familiar Ford pickup came rumbling towards us. I froze, caught in those headlights like a deer.

"Jackie." I grabbed her wrist, "Did you invite Ian?"

She shot me a guilty look, digging the toe of her boots into the mud before she sighed.

"He overheard me telling Andrew about it." she confessed, "He asked why you hadn't invited him and I gave him some bullshit excuse. I'm sorry, I should have known he'd show up anyway."

"It's fine, I'll just..." I trailed off, as the lights on the pick up dimmed and the door swung open. And there was Ian. I hadn't seen him in over a week. He'd decided to go with what he knew was my weakness, a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved waffle knit crew. In fact, I recognized it as my favorite one to wear whenever I got the opportunity to steal it from him. I ran my fingers through my hair and hoped for some diversion that I could direct my attention to. When nothing appeared, I sighed. I would have to say something.

"Hey Ian." I greeted, with a wave. He said nothing, instead, scooped me up in a massive bear hug, my feet lifting inches off the ground in the process. I grunted, but didn't struggle, knowing it would only make him hold tighter.

"I haven't seen you in ages Kimmy." he breathed into my ear. I nodded and, finally, he set me back down on the ground and took a step back. He half heartedly hugged Jackie and gave her a disinterested greeting.

Over Ian's shoulder, I could see Jared and Paul emerging from the road. Jared's face looked tight and he was eyeing Ian with an expression I really couldn't place.

I wasn't really sure if they knew each other well, but I certainly wasn't looking to be the reason that they had a proper encounter. Instead I hastily insisted that Ian go inside and help himself to the beers that Marcus had picked up for the party. Begrudgingly, he began heading towards the house, but not before saying he wanted to talk to me later. Just after Ian left, Jared and Paul reached us.

"Hey Jared." I greeted, with a warm smile, "Paul." I nodded in his friend's direction.

"Hey." Jared breathed, staring a me for a moment. He broke eye contact briefly to look at Jax. "Hi Jackie."

Jackie grinned and smiled warmly, feeling the need to elbow me in the ribs like we were still in the sixth grade. I glared at her.

"So we've got beers in the fridge." I told them, "Do you guys know Marcus?"

"I've met him." Paul nodded. That was the great part about La Push. If you had grown up here and if you functioned at a normal social level, it was likely you knew everyone's name and introductions weren't necessary.

"Alright, great." I grinned, "We'll see you in there after we're done out here."

"Have fun." Jackie chimed in after me. Jared seemed as if he would stay outside, but Paul clapped him roughly on the shoulder and the pair of them trudged off towards the house. Jackie craned her neck around to watch them as they headed inside and the minute the disappeared, she descended on me.

"He totally wants to fuck you." she stated, grinning from ear to ear at this realization.

"_Jackie_." I hissed, pushing my hair behind my ear.

"Oh don't act so scandalized Kim. You know you would if he came on to you."

I was quiet for a moment, as Jackie stared at me expectantly.

"Alright fine. I totally would." I sighed and Jackie laughed and reached for the bottle in my hand.

"And I _totally _wouldn't judge you for it." she said, before taking a long sip.

By the time we made it into the party a half hour later, we were sufficiently drunk. Jackie was giggling like maniac over something that we wouldn't think was funny had we been sober. But that was how we were. Jackie and I were lovable drunks, the kind that laughed more than they should and almost always lost their shoes.

We were on the couch when Tara found us. She wasn't quite the happy drunk that we could be, but she was smiling and that was absolutely a good thing. She settled into the chair adjacent from us and leaned over the arm rest to talk to us over the loud music.

"You realize Ian is here, right Kim?" she asked me, gesturing wildly around the room to no one in particular. I couldn't see Ian in the mess of people who were currently in my family's small living room and I said a silent prayer of thanks for that. Ian was not the sort of drunk that I was interested in dealing with at the moment.

"I'm ignoring that fact." I said, deadpanned, before breaking my stoic expression to grin at Jackie, "I can't believe you invited him!"

"I know!" she moaned, burying her head in her hands, "I'm such a bad friend."

I rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her, while Tara clicked her tongue on her teeth in a manner that most people found to be annoying.

"No you're not." I assured her, "It was bad judgement! But it's fine, I'm not mad."

"You should be." Tara interjected and both Jackie and I glanced up to look at her.

"Why should I be mad?"

"Because," Tara said, inspecting her nails with an air of indifference. She tended to get smug when she knew something others didn't. "He's going around telling everyone that you're getting back together tonight."

I blinked and I almost dropped the bottle that was in my hand. Finally, after a bit of struggling, I found my words.

"He's doing _what_?"

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

More Ian in this chapter you guys! I've been on a roll with writing this. I promise, Jared and Kim are going to be making some serious progress in their relationship in the next three chapters, so get ready! Review review review!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

As a side note- AGAIN I am NOT encouraging underage drinking, so please don't take Kim's social life as encouragement to go out and get trashed.

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><p>I was absolutely furious. Not at Jackie, there was really no way she could have predicted that he would pull a stunt like this, instead my anger was entirely directed at Ian. I should have known better, really. My relationship with Ian had always been a complicated one, without any real reason. I'd had three boyfriends since my sophomore year of High school, when I had first started dating. Derek, my first boyfriend, had been the result of a 'you're cute and I'm cute' type of logic. There wasn't really much substance to it, I had simply wanted a boyfriend and he had been interested. It didn't last long and there weren't hard feelings when it had ended. Gavin was something else. I was beginning to realize that relationships had to have some foundation in attraction and I liked Gavin quite a bit. He liked me more and that became the problem. He had wanted too much from me and I couldn't handle it. Marcus swore the poor kid was still pining for me to this day, which we didn't know for sure, because he'd graduated with the most recent class and left to go to school in Kansas.<p>

Ian, well, I could probably call him the closest thing that I've ever gotten to love. I was positive I never loved him and I was sure that he never loved me, end of story. Ian seemed to feel differently on the matter and was doing his best to make that opinion known as often as he could manage it. He had told me he loved me when we were dating, but I always felt he did so out of obligation or expectation and not because he really felt that way. People didn't date for eight months without falling in love, Jackie used to say. But that didn't seem right to me. There wasn't a time limit on things like that. it could takes years to fall in love with someone or just seconds. It all depended on who the person was.

We'd broken up because I didn't want to be with him anymore. It wasn't for anything specific. He hadn't forgotten my birthday or said something offensive. I was simply over our relationship and no longer wanted to be in it. The trouble with Ian was that he could be a stubborn bastard when he wanted to be and he had decided shortly after we broke up that this was something he was going to dig his heels in for.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do about him at the moment. Everyone at the party knew me or Marcus, so the majority knew we had broken up. And even if they did believe we were going to get back together, Ian would be the one who found himself looking foolish later on when he ended up being wrong. Still, I was drunk enough to think irrationally and to believe that his actions would somehow have a real impact on my life. So without even really thinking about it, I went looking for him.

Jackie followed me, of course, doing her best to make up for the fact that he was here because of her.

"You should tell him to get out." she was slurring a bit as she said this, "Just kick him right in the ass out the door. I'll help, even."

Jackie's complete 360 on her opinions of Ian were comforting. It was nice to feel as if she was on my side again, instead of rooting for my ex-boyfriend. Still, I knew in this matter she was likely all bark. Drunk Jackie tended to have more guts than sober Jackie did. While Jackie had never had issues with confidence, she was more likely to be flat out rude to someone if she had some alcohol in her. That seemed to be the case with most people.

"I'm just going to talk to him Jax. Find out who the hell he thinks he is." I muttered, as we made our way through the groups of people who were in my house. As we passed through the kitchen, Marcus caught sight of us and made his way over. He draped an arm over Jackie's shoulder and grinned broadly at us.

"Hey little sister." he greeted, then glanced at Jax. "Jackie."

She couldn't help a giggle and I rolled my eyes. Marcus could be such a flirt sometimes and Jackie really wasn't much better.

"Marcus, have you seen Ian?" My brother, despite his drunken state, looked surprised.

"He had the balls to come here? Shit Kim." he blinked and glanced around, "Want me to...uh...do something about it?"

Marcus was truly lousy at trying to be protective. The way he saw it, if every girl he tried to go after had an overprotective brother, his life would be hell, so he allowed me to be fair game to anyone. It was slightly screwy logic, but it worked for him and there were plenty of times when I was grateful for it. This was not one of them.

"No, no. Don't worry about it." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair, "I'm going to go find him. Keep Jackie company Marcus."

He grinned at this suggestion and turned to lead her off in the direction of his friends. It was a much better alternative to Jackie making a scene and I was grateful for Marcus' intervention. I turned to glance frantically around the room. As much vodka as I had had at that point, I was no where near drunk enough to be dealing with this.

I caught sight of him through the screen door, standing on the porch with Andrew. They seemed to be laughing about something and talked animatedly over solo cups of beer. I let out a calming breath, hoping that I wouldn't end up making a scene by mistake. I slid the screen door back and slipped outside. It wasn't as crowded on the porch as it was inside, as most of the people who had ventured out into the cool night air were simply seeking a break from the body heat inside or a chance to light up. I ran my fingers through my hair and made my way to where Ian and Andrew were talking. Andrew saw me first, grinned and nodded.

"Kimmie!" he greeted. I had always liked Andrew. He was one of Ian's closer friends and someone I had known most of my life. I smiled back.

"Hey Andrew. Having fun?"

"Course I am." he nodded, raising his cup to me, "You and your brother know how to kill it."

"I'll tell Marc that." I said, brushing my hair behind one ear, "Hey do you mind getting me a beer? I have to talk to Ian for a second."

"Sure thing." he agreed, pushing off the railing towards the house and muttering, "Knew you two wouldn't stay apart for long." I almost snapped at him, but I bit my tongue. It wasn't Andrew's fault that Ian had been spreading lies.

"What the hell have you been telling everyone, E?" I demanded, turning to face him as soon as Andrew was out of hearing distance. Ian looked surprised.

"_Nothing_." he insisted, taking a sip from his cup.

"That's bullshit. Tara just told me you've been saying we're getting back together." I crossed my arms over my chest, "_Tonight._"

"Hey, I never said it was going to be tonight." he held up a hand defensively, "But come on Kim, you and I both know this break isn't going to last."

"_Break_?" I repeated, feeling vodka fueled anger bubble in my chest, "We aren't on a break Ian. We're broken up."

"Oh come on, babe." he protested, "You're honestly saying that you're done? For good?"

I couldn't believe him. I really had thought I had made that clear when I told him I didn't feel that way for him anymore. I hadn't been vague when we had broken up. It was over.

"Yes for good!" I exclaimed, "Jesus, Ian, I thought I made that clear."

"That was never clear. It still isn't clear." he insisted, "You're still in denial. We're _good _together Kim."

"Maybe we were at one point, but we aren't anymore."

"I just want one reason why you won't give it another shot, Kim." Ian demanded, setting his solo cup down on the railing of our back porch.

"Because I don't want to be with you."

"A _good_ reason." he crossed his arms over his chest and I narrowed my eyes.

"It's _my _reason. And I think that's good enough." I replied. He was getting annoyed now and I could tell.

"You can't just break up with me and not give me an explanation." he snapped, "You owe me an explanation as to why you don't want to be with me."

"Well I don't have one and I'm sorry if that upsets you, but I guess that's just what it is." I turned and started to go, but he reached out and grabbed my wrist. It wasn't forceful, he didn't pull me back or try to bruise me. But before I knew it, Jared was standing next to me, staring at Ian's hand on me and looking like he was about to murder someone. Namely, Ian.

"Let go of her." he said, his voice low and I swear to God I saw him shake.

"Jared, just let it g-" I started, wiggling my wrist from Ian and placing it on his shoulder. The shaking lessened, but he was still trembling at a frightening rate.

"Or what Cameron?" Ian challenged, stepping forward so he was right in Jared's face. Before Jared could respond, I forced my way in between them with a hand on each of their chests.

"Ok stop it, both of you." I insisted. Neither looked at me, instead, they just kept eye contact with one another, glaring daggers at the other. "I _mean _it. No fights tonight. Save it for when you're on someone else's property."

Not that I really wanted them to get into a fight at all, but if they were going to, it needed to be somewhere else. Marcus had one rule; no liability. We had a perfect record for enforcing that rule and I certainly wasn't going to jeopardize that now. Jared glanced down at me, finally, and he met my eyes. He took several calming breathes, all the while watching me.

"I've gotta go." he muttered finally, wrapping an arm around my waist in a half hug and then turning to jump over the banister. He disappeared into the darkness. From behind me, Ian snorted.

"Since when is Cameron your body guard?" he asked and I turned to look at him.

"Just go, Ian." I muttered, pushing past him and heading into the house to find Marcus. I knew if I could find my brother, Ian would leave me alone. It only took me a minute to find him, in the kitchen, shotgunning beers with some of his old high school friends who had never left La Push. Sure enough, as I entered the kitchen and turned to glance behind me, I no longer saw my ex-boyfriend. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God for that.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

I apologize for how short this chapter is. The next one will be better, I swear, but I wanted to get this one out ASAP because the real action is coming soon. Hope you guys like it anyway!

Q&A

_Alekzz- _I'm so proud to be your first review and I'm glad that you (and everyone else!) like the story. You asked about a fight between Jared and Ian...haha, you'll find out if that happens soon enough!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

As a side note- AGAIN I am NOT encouraging underage drinking, so please don't take Kim's social life as encouragement to go out and get trashed.

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><p>The next week went by without any incident. Jared drove me too and from school and lingered around my house in the afternoons. Marcus had been teasing me about it a bit, but that was my brother. I didn't mind the teasing much and despite my better judgement, I was finding myself falling for Jared harder than I ever had. I was amazed that he was willing to wait every day for my volleyball practice to let out and he insisted it wasn't a problem at all. He had taken to coming to pick me up five minutes earlier every day and was now arriving at my house a half hour before he needed to. He took this opportunity to sit on my bed and watch me as I applied my make up in the morning, which I found to be a bit distracting. I was starting in on my eye liner Friday morning when he actually spoke.<p>

"Why do you do that?"

I looked at him in the mirror and raised and eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, setting the brush down on the vanity.

"Your makeup." he replied, "You spend so much time putting that stuff on your face every morning. And don't get me wrong, it's adorable the way you concentrate on it and everything, but I don't think you need to bother."

"That's a terrible line Jared." I said flatly, wiggling the brush of my mascara along the underside of my eyelashes.

"It isn't a line." he protested and I rolled my eyes.

"Bullshit." I replied.

"You should seriously learn to take a compliment, Kim."

"You seriously should stop watching chick flicks, Jared." I teased, with a broad smile and he grinned back.

"Whatever." he laughed, reaching for his bag, "You ready to go? Can't be late."

I nodded and snatched my purse from where it was slumped against my wall. We headed down the stairs in silence, entering the kitchen to find Marcus sitting on the counter with a bagel and a jar of peanut butter in hand. I was surprised that he was up this early. He grinned broadly at me.

"Morning Kimmie." he greeted, then nodded to Jared, "Boytoy."

"Marcus!" I hissed, reaching for an apple out of the bowl on the table. Marcus gave me an innocent look.

"What? He clearly hasn't been promoted to boyfriend." Marcus defended, then added as an afterthought,"Though he does a lot of chauffeuring for someone who hasn't been upgraded."

Jared just grinned at me, a stupid 'he has a point' sort of grin that made me drop my gaze the counter top. I ran my fingers through my hair and then looked up at my brother.

"And on that note," I said, "We're going to school. I'll be back after practice."

"Awesome." Marcus said, sliding off the counter and heading past Jared into the living room. He paused, looked and Jared and said, "You know, if you want to just keep her, you're more than welcome to. I mean, better than mooning over her ev-"

"_Goodbye _Marcus." I said firmly, before grabbing Jared's wrist and dragging him out the door with me. He was grinning like an idiot, as he glanced over his shoulder back at the house. He didn't seem to mind Marcus' comments in the slightest and that made me nervous.

"You know, I like your brother."

"Well I'm glad someone does." I muttered, sliding into his car and clicking my seatbelt before he had a chance to remind me. Jared laughed.

"Oh come on, he was just joking around." Jared shrugged as he started the car, "Doesn't mean anything."

I was becoming more and more confused by Jared as the days went by. He was _acting _like a boyfriend, but he hadn't made any effort to _become _my boyfriend. For all I knew, he was like this with every girl he met, as time consuming as that might be. I was starting to feel as if I was misreading his attention and placing more weight on it than there actually was.

"Right." I muttered, "Doesn't mean anything."

I was preoccupied by my status with Jared for the majority of the day. I had spent years secretly crushing on him, but I had never allowed myself to think that anything would ever come of it. I had never tricked myself into believing he would some day give a damn about me, but now it seemed like I would be justified in that fantasy. But committing to that kind of a daydream only to end up heartbroken later was what I had been hoping to avoid all along. I was smarter than this, I knew it and I refused to allow myself to get pulled in just because Jared was paying more attention. I had already given him enough of my soul, even if he didn't know it. He seemed so different now. I didn't know what had caused the change or what had sparked his interest, but I felt as if whatever it was could only have been good. My crush on Jared was now founded in something real, common interest and shared humor. It scared me to think that the whole thing might just be fleeting.

I spent volleyball practice thoroughly distracted by my thoughts on Jared and it resulted in taking a few hits to the head. Coach was furious. My game hadn't been up to it's usual standard since Jared had come into the picture and I knew I was starting to get on her nerves. After the third volley ball collided with my head, she told me to hit the showers and head home to get my mind in the right place. I took an extra long shower because I knew I had time before I was supposed to meet Jared outside the back entrance of the gymnasium. With my damp hair falling in waves, I tugged my La Push High sweatshirt over my head and began out the locker room doors. I was only a few steps out of the locker rooms when the backdoor swung open and Jackie came running in. Her eyes landed on me and she sprinted across the gym.

"Kim!" she gasped, skidding to a halt in front of me. Her sneaker soles had left scuffs on the floor, "You have to come outside. Jared and Ian are getting into it."

She reached for my hand and pulled me after her to the door she'd just come through. Sure enough, there was Jared car, Ian's parked right behind it, and a crowd of students slowly gathering around the two boys who were locked in a fight. It seemed that Jared was winning and wasn't trying to take any swings, though the black eye that was starting to form on Ian's face indicated he hadn't been able to resist getting one good punch in. Ian seemed to be having less luck. I had never seen either boy get into a fight at school and I knew Ian had never been in a fight _at all_. I wasn't sure if I should feel flattered or annoyed by this display of macho alpha malism. I chose the latter.

"Shit!" I muttered, dropping my gym bag and squeezing my way into the crowds of people.

"You stay the fuck away from her Cameron!" Ian was yelling. I rolled my eyes and forced myself in between the two of them again. I couldn't believe we were back in this place. I pushed against either of them and the minute that Jared realized I was there, he dropped his fist and froze. Ian took the opportunity to get a good hit on the side of Jared's face. If the collision had hurt Ian, he hid it well and Jared didn't seem to be effected by it at all.

"Will you two cut it out?" I demanded, glaring at both of them.

"He started it-" Jared began to defend himself, but fell silent when I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I am _sick _of this." I snapped, turning to Ian, "_You _are not my boyfriend anymore. You have no right to start fights over me so stop it. I don't want to see you getting into this shit! I swear to God I will never speak to you again if you do."

And I meant that. I was about to be finished with Ian in every way. But I was mad at Jared too. He didn't have any right to go around starting fights with my ex-boyfriend if he wasn't going to make a move on me. We weren't dating or talking about dating or even hooking up and Jared had no right to act as if he had some kind of claim on me. I whirled on him next.

"And _you_!" I started, poking him in the chest, "You aren't my boyfriend either! So stop going around acting like you are!"

Jared stared down at me for a long moment with those big brown eyes and I couldn't help but feel as if I'd hurt his feelings some how. Finally he spoke, loud enough so that every on looker could hear.

"Well why can't I be your boyfriend then?"

I blinked, Jackie -from somewhere in the crowd- squealed and Ian made a move to swing another punch. Luckily, Andrew intervened and grabbed him before he could hit his mark. Jared and I just stood there, in the middle of a crowd of our peers, staring at each other. I swallowed.

"Can we talk about that somewhere else?" I whispered and he nodded, before pushing me in the direction of his car. He ran back to get my bag, as I climbed into the passenger side. I didn't know what to say to him. I wasn't even sure if my mouth was going to work when it needed to. The last thing that I expected was for him to be so blunt about the whole thing, but I guess he was still full of surprises. He climbed into the car and turned the radio on. I was thankful that he didn't want to talk about it yet. Everyone, absolutely everyone, outside the car watched with bug eyes as we drove away. I didn't even bother to ask him where we were going.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Things are on a roll now! You guys have been waiting for it and here it is! Not going to lie, I've been waiting to post this scene since I started this, so I hope you all like it!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>We pulled up alongside the beach where we had gone the day we cut school. There weren't any other cars and we walked down to the shore in silence. Finally, when we were sitting in the sand, he cleared his throat.<p>

"So you wanted to talk about this?"

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" I demanded and he flinched at the harsh abruptness of my question.

"I didn't say _that_." he was back peddling now and I could tell. Obviously he had spoken without thinking and was now worried that he had said something to upset me. He was justified in being concerned. Asking girls you'd only been hanging out with for a few weeks for a relationship was unconventional at best. I stared at him.

"So you don't want to be my boyfriend then?"

"No! No...I do. It's just..." he trailed off. It was obvious that he had a hard time lying to me, as he ran a hand over his head, desperately looking for an explanation.

"What? What is it Jared?" I demanded, getting frustrated, "I can't wait around for you to figure out if you want me or not."

"I _do _want you. There's just stuff you've got to know, okay?" he snapped, "And I don't have the fucking balls to tell you."

"Well you'd better find them." I said, crossing my arms over my chest, "Because right now, I'm looking for a reason to keep doing this. And if you can't give me one..."

He looked alarmed. Perhaps the ultimatum was not the right way to go on this, but I couldn't help myself. The words were out before I could even stop them.

"Okay. Okay, I'll tell you." he sighed, "Can you just...just sit down, Kim?"

I sat down on the sand and he followed, settling cross legged opposite from me. I figured he probably had some kind of STD to fess up to or a girlfriend in the Makah tribe. What could be worse than either of those? There was no way he had a kid or something, I was sure. That would spread around the Rez like wildfire. I watched him expectantly.

"I didn't want to tell you like this." he started, "I had plans. There's a right way, Sam says. First beach and...council."

He rubbed the back of his neck, something I had picked up on as one of his nervous habits.

"You know the legends. The spirit warrior legends that they used to tell us when we were in elementary school?" he asked and I nodded. "Did you ever believe in them?"

"Sure. When I was little my brother used to pretend he was some animal protector of our back yard. What does that have to do with anything?"

He hesitated and stared at his hands. Then he mumbled something.

"What?"

He finally looked up at me. His brown eyes seemed to be full of an unknown terror. It scared me, to not even know what he was so afraid of.

"I am one." he said, "I turn into a giant wolf and I protect the Rez."

I stared at him for a full minute.

"Is this your way of telling me you're some kind of drug addict, Jared? Because the theatrics are not cute." I told him, "Telling me you turn into a wolf doesn't soften the blow of the fact that you have a serious problem."

"I'm not a drug addict. It's the truth." he said quietly, a pleasing tone to his voice.

"Oh come on. Just let it go. It's not even funny the first time, don't push it."

"I'm not joking. You have to trust me." he insisted, reaching for my hands. I pulled them away and I laughed, leaning back on my hands.

"Alright then. Let's see it. Turn into a wolf." I challenged, "Go on."

He looked terrified by the idea. There was no way he would stick the lie now. He had to come clean, tell me he was some kind of a psychopath and that he was lying to me or on crack.

"That's not a good idea..."

"Well if you're not going to confess to the lie and you're not going to somehow become a wolf, I guess we're done here, aren't we?" I said, moving to get up. I was stopped by his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him expectantly.

"I'm only going to do this once." he said, standing up. I smiled triumphantly, waiting for him to make a bigger fool out of himself than he already had. He looked conflicted, then glanced around the beach.

"Well?"

"I have to take my shorts off." he said, looking embarrassed for the first time since I had known him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but then again, he hardly ever seemed to anymore. "Close your eyes."

"Oh hell no. I'm not even blinking." I said with a grin, leaning back on my elbows, "Strip wolfboy."

He sighed and contemplated this for a moment. Finally he turned his back to me and dropped his shorts, giving me a good look at his ass before his entire body started to vibrate uncontrollably. I would have laughed if he hadn't started to shake in a manner that clearly wasn't human. The muscles in his shoulders shifted and moved.

"Jared..." I could hear the concern in my voice as I sat up straight, but it was too late for him to hear me. He was morphing, changing into something bigger than a man, bigger than he had been before. He skin sprouted fur and he crumpled onto all fours as his entire body shifted into something else entirely. I tried to figure out the source of the trick. Mirrors or a trap door, but all of that was impossible.

Jared Cameron had turned into a wolf before my eyes.

"Holy shit, Jer." I breathed as the animal turned around and looked at me with guilty eyes. He crouched low to the ground and crawled towards me slowly, almost in an army crawl, like my neighbors dog did when he had done something wrong. I scrambled backwards and the wolf whimpered, then froze. This wasn't cute. This was completely weird and _wrong. _I had no idea how to react but the last thing I wanted was for him to come near me.

"Jared." I hissed, "What the _fuck_ is going on?"

He started shaking again, the muscles rippled in reverse and the fur shrunk away. His shorts were back on his massive body before I could even register what was going on.

"Don't freak out." he said, as soon as he was covered up. He looked absolutely terrified, as if he thought I was going to make a run for it. At the moment, I was seriously considering doing just that.

"Yeah, I'm sort of having trouble with that right now." I said, slightly hysterical, running my fingers through my hair. "What is going on? Why are you..._like that_?"

"If you calm down a bit, I'll tell you." he said softly, sitting down next to me at a safe distance. I could tell he was waiting for me to run off. I was seriously considering it. Instead I forced myself to take a handful of deep, calming breathes. He watched carefully as I did so and my heart rate slowed to one that was close to normal.

"Ok I..." I wove my fingers through my hair, inhaled deeply and let my hands fall to my lap. Finally I nodded, "Ok...I'm calm."

He inspected my face for a very long moment, trying to decide if now was the right time to tell me more. On the one hand, he might never get the chance if he allowed me to run away screaming. On the other hand, it wasn't really something that was easy to take and I wasn't sure if I could handle much more. He sighed.

"It's like this." he started, "The gene gets passed down for generations, but it isn't active until there's a threat to the reservation."

"There's a threat to the reservation?" I repeated, my eyes wide as I tried to determine what could be coming after us. Hopefully not more giant shape shifters. Jared nodded slowly. I didn't even have to ask before he began to explain it to me. I almost didn't want to know, but it was obviously too late to take back the knowledge that I was gaining now.

"Do you remember the stories about the cold ones?" he asked hesitantly and I blinked, the story popping into the forefront of my mind. I stared at him for a very long moment.

"Bullshit." I breathed out, "There is no such thing as vampires Jared."

"Just like there's no such thing as teenage boys who turn into giant dogs." Jared rolled his eyes, "There's no sense in me lying to you now Kim. You already know the big secret."

He had a point. There was no denying that he had just turned into a giant dog in front of me. He was likely telling the truth about everything else as well. I swallowed. Vampires. This was so messed up and so absolutely crazy that I had no pinch myself to be sure that I wasn't dreaming.

"We're protecting the Reservation from them." he continued, not waiting for a signal from me. He seemed to think that the faster he got it all out, the better it would be. Like ripping off a band aid. "And I'm like this...until they're gone, I guess."

"I don't want to know this, Jared." I told him, starting to feel a mixture of fear and anger boiling in my chest. I would have been content to go on without knowing these things about my home or about him. "Why would you even think it was a good idea to tell me this in the first place? I thought you wanted to talk about us, so why the hell are you bringing vampires and fucking _wolf people _into the whole thing?" Not that I really wanted to talk about our relationship either. I wasn't about to start dating a wolf man, even if I had been head over heels for him only moments before. Giant dogs changed things.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

I considered getting them together in this chapter, but I felt that this route would be so much more fun. Don't worry, it won't last long, they'll be together soon! Kim's angry in this chapter!

Q&A

_Tinkerbell-Lover-Ms-Write-It _- I actually did consider adding a lemon in a later chapter, but since I've never written a lemon, I'm a bit hesitant to take a stab at it. There is a spot for one later on though, so I'll toy with the idea a bit and see if I come up with anything. It's definitely a possibility though, depending on how well I can actually write a sex scene haha

_Alekzz_ - I'm so glad you're liking my story! Oddly enough, my Dad's birthday is also June 7th. I'll do my best to get a chapter up for you on that day!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>This was ridiculous. Here I was, sitting on the beach, next to Jared. Jared, who happened to be a wolf man and a vampire slayer and the boy I'd had a crush on since I was a kid. It was almost too much to handle and so I kept running my fingers through my hair over and over again to try and soothe myself. Jesus, Ian was starting to look pretty damn good right now, even with his insecurities and his desire to control absolutely everything. It had only been minutes since I'd learned Jared's big secret, but already I missed the time when I hadn't known, when my biggest problem had been trying to keep them from killing each other. I was mad at Jared, for ruining my ignorance.<p>

"So why are you telling me this?" I demanded, "It would have been so much easier if you'd kept the whole thing a secret, right?"

"I was sort of hoping you wouldn't ask me that today." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "But I can't lie to you, so if you want to know...I'll tell you the rest."

"There's more?" I asked weakly. What more could he have to tell me other than he's a wolf and he fights vampires all day? And what would shock me at this point? Nothing seemed impossible at the moment and that terrified me.

"I sort of...well, I have to tell you eventually." he admitted, looking guilty, "But I don't have to tell you today. It can wait if you don't want to hear it."

"I..." I faltered. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted or what would make this whole thing easier, "Just tell me. Fast, like ripping off a band aid."

He winced at my choice of words, like that wasn't exactly what he wanted this whole thing to be associated with. I didn't really know how to take his reaction.

"It doesn't have to be today Kim, this can wait, as long as you promise me that you'll speak to me after this." he was talking a bit faster now and I was taken aback. I had never seen Jared so frightened and nervous in all the time that I had known him. When he had gone to fight Ian he had looked determined and threatening. When he'd been teased by Marcus, he looked amused. Nothing had phased him until this moment. He looked at me with those fearful eyes and he pleaded with me, silently, not to leave. And even though every ounce of sense in me said get the hell away, I had to hear it. Even though I wanted nothing more than to forget, not knowing every twist would drive me insane in the end. I sighed.

"Tell me what it is Jared. It can't be worse than," I swallowed, "Vampires."

"Oh you would be surprised." he muttered, his hand on the back of his neck once more. He looked at me and could tell that I was not amused. He sighed. "So the wolf thing...there's more to it than just turning into a giant animal."

"Do you have fleas or something?" I teased, in an effort to lighten the tension that had fallen over us. Jared glared at me and I sobered a bit, "Right, sorry, go on."

"There are just, abilities that come with the whole thing." he struggled to get his words out.

"Abilities? Like what?" I snorted, obviously not taking this very seriously. If I had stopped to consider it, I might have realized that it was actually a very serious situation. After all, Jared had just let me in on a major tribe secret, one that I probably shouldn't have known in the first place. He would probably get in some kind of trouble for doing so later.

"I mean, we're not exactly normal wolves, obviously." He shrugged, "The pack is small right now, just me and Sam and Paul. But we've got this thing where we share minds when we've shifted a-"

"You can read _minds_?" I demanded, feeling slightly nervous. Was his sudden interest in me due to the fact that he had discovered my longstanding crush through mind reading. Even that sounded insane as I thought it, but I couldn't help myself. There were apparently no limits to the madness that was currently happening.

"Not like that." he said quickly, his eyes widening and I could tell he knew what I was thinking, "Only in the pack and only when we're changed. And it's not really mind reading, it's like having one communal brain."

"That's weird." I said flatly and Jared gave a nervous chuckle. "What about these vampires? Are they...are they coming here?"

His eyes seemed to darken a bit as I mentioned the vampires and his jaw tightened. Obviously, they were a tense subject for him and I instantly regretted mentioning them.

"No. Never." he said instantly, his voice a low growl, "Not while we're around anyway."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what else to say on the matter. I had obviously upset him by bringing it up in the first place. It was a morbid sort of curiosity that I had, like wanting to know how someone died or watching a horror movie.

"Apparently they're _good_ vampires." he muttered, rubbing the top of his head, "They don't kill humans or something. It's still sick though. Unnatural."

"You're one to talk." I retorted and his head snapped up abruptly.

"I'm still human." he defended, "I still breathe and bleed and_ feel_. I'm more natural than they are."

"I-" I wasn't exactly sure what to say. Obviously I had struck a nerve and he had a valid point. Technically he was still human, moreso than a vampire, but that still didn't make what he was _right_. It certainly didn't make it normal.

"Sorry." he mumbled, "I just don't want you to associate me with..._them_. Makes me feel sick."

I nodded. I supposed if someone compared me to my enemy, I wouldn't be happy about it either, though I could hardly relate to Jared's supernatural world.

"I don't understand this Jared." I said after a moment, "Why are you telling me these things?"

"I was getting to that." he sighed, "Abilities, remember?"

"Right, what does that have to do with me. You can't read my mind or something, can you?"

"I already told you I can't." he grinned, "Though I wish I could, you're fucking cryptic most of the time."

No boy had ever called me cryptic, but I was slightly proud of the fact that he hadn't been able to read me easily.

"There's this thing called imprinting." he said in a low voice, his tone wavering a bit as he spoke. His nerves were starting to rise to the surface again. I stared at him, waiting for him to explain the term. He sighed again, "Sam didn't think it was common, but then it happened again and, well, here we are."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, throughly confused, "What's an imprint?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm doing a lousy job explaining this, huh?" he laughed nervously, "See imprinting is like...it's better than soul mates. It's like...gravity or something. I don't know, you'd have to feel it from my end, I guess."

I just stared at him. My brain had stopped working. He was giving me puzzle pieces, but I wasn't functioning at normal mental capacity.

"So you just see her, the imprint that is, and she's it." he was staring out into the ocean now, a dazed sort of look on his face, "She's everything."

It all clicked then, exactly what he was trying to tell me, his sudden interest in me and his desire to tell me the truth about what he really was.

"Bull_shit_." I muttered, unsure of my feelings. I was either terrified or angry, I couldn't really decide which at the moment. "You're not seriously telling me this imprinting stuff has something to do with me?"

He looked at me, slightly sheepish.

"Don't freak out." he said again. I stared, blinked and then did the only thing I could think of. I shoved him as hard as I possibly could. It had little to no effect, but it was satisfying, and I scrambled to my feet in the sand.

"This is fucking _insane_ Jared." I snapped at him, finally deciding that I needed to leave before he could tell me anything else. He quickly got up and began to follow me as I made my way back to the road. I didn't wait for him to continue speaking. "You can't just stand here and stake some kind of claim on me!"

"I'm not trying to stake a claim on you!"

"Oh yes you are! You can't sit there and tell me I'm your God damn gravity and not sound possessive."

"I'm not trying to be possessive, it's just what happens. It's wolf thing." he sighed, his eyes pleading as he tried to search for the right way to appease me on the subject.

"What so you just go around peeing on everything like a _dog_ and then it's just yours, right?" I demanded, as I reached the road, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Ok now you're just exaggerating." He muttered, shoving his hands into his pocket. I made a mental note that calling him a dog struck a chord.

"It doesn't matter." I said, throwing my hands up in defeat, "Because I'm not doing this. Does your wolf magic hear that? I am _not _doing this. Not today. So you can take your gravity and your soul mates and your vampires and you can leave me alone."

And with that, I spun on my heel and took off down the road. I still had my sneakers on from practice and even though the clothes I was wearing weren't exactly good for jogging, I knew I could make it the few miles to my house. And, if it came down to it, I still had my cell phone, so I could call Marcus if I had to. Jared still had my gym bag in his car, but I would figure out a way to get it back later. I heard a car engine start up behind me and the grumble of his tires on the beat up pavement. Seconds later, his care was edging along beside me, the window rolled down as he leaned out of it.

"Kim can we just-"

"Jared." I stopped short and he slammed on the breaks in response, "I'm your world, right?"

He nodded eagerly, his eyes shining hopefully.

"And you'd do anything I ask?" I pressed and he nodded again. This was obviously not going to go away anytime soon and, despite the fact that I wished it would, I knew I'd have to deal with it eventually. Jared was determined, I could tell. But if I could put off learning more about this whole mess for a while, maybe I would be alright. "Then listen to me when I tell you that I don't want to talk to you about this. Not now."

"Then when?"

"Just..." I trailed off, running my fingers through my hair, "Give me a few days? And we'll see."

"We'll see." he repeated, "Can I at least give you a ride?"

"No offense," I sighed, feeling tired, "But that is probably the last thing I need right now."

And with that, I turned away from his car and headed off in a jog down the road. Like I had asked, Jared stayed put.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Alright here's the deal. The next chapter is finished. And it's a BIG one. It's 2pm Eastern Standard time and if I get FIVE REVIEWS by midnight, I'll put up the next chapter. And it's an AWESOME chapter. Actually, it's the chapter that inspired me to write this entire story. So yeah, read and review so you all can have the next chapter by midnight!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>He called the next day. I wasn't the slightest bit happy about it. Jared obviously had a hard time with the concept of space. I didn't answer the phone when he called and that seemed to be enough to give him a hint. But he called again on Sunday and, again, I ignored it. I was caught between trying to think about anything else and obsessing over what he had told me on Friday. I came trudging down the stairs on Monday morning to find Marcus asleep on the couch with an open box of cereal on his chest.<p>

"Marcus." I whispered, poking him in the arm. He twitched. "Marc?"

His eyes cracked open and he yawned and stretched, scratching his head as he sat upright. The cereal box slid off his chest and bits of it's contents scattered on the floor.

"Whasit?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes a bit.

"Can you call me out of school?"

"Why?" he asked, suddenly more interested. I sighed. I had hoped we might be able to avoid that question.

"Because you're my brother and I love you?" I tried, giving him a broad smile.

"Nice try." he laughed, standing up and snatching the box off the floor. I followed him as he walked into the kitchen. "Why don't you want to go to school?"

"I just don't!"

"Not a good reason."

"Marcus!"

"Kim."

I pressed my palm to my forehead and sighed.

"I don't want to see Jared." I admitted, leaning on the counter. Marcus looked up sharply. He actually appeared to be surprised.

"Over him already?" he snorted, "That's gotta be a record."

"That's not it." I insisted, "I just...he told me something that freaked me out and...I just can't face him yet."

"What'd he say?" Marcus was suddenly interested. I quickly scanned my mind for something that wasn't giant wolf shifters.

"He uh..." I shifted my weight, "He called me his soul mate."

That was believable and true. I wasn't about to tell him the whole truth about what had happened. Marcus raised an eyebrow at this.

"Bold move." he admitted, hoisting himself onto the counter. I laughed and nodded.

"That's an understatement." I muttered. I looked at my brother hopefully. Marcus had had his fair share of crazy ex-girlfriends. One had gone so far as to individually name all of their future children. If anyone understood someone coming on too strong, it was definitely my brother.

"Alright fine. I'll call you out of school. But you're going in tomorrow." he conceded, "You know mom is friends with that woman in the office and if she finds out I let you skip, she'll kill me."

"Oh my God, you're a lifesaver." I said, throughly grateful that Marcus was, well, _Marcus._ I knew plenty of people who had siblings who would never agree to something like this. He nodded and reached for the phone. After a few minutes of talking to someone in the main office of the school, he hung up and nodded to me. Marcus had been a good student when he went to La Push High School and, as such, they adored him in the main office. It didn't take much for them to believe him.

"I've got class in an hour." Marcus said, going towards the coffee pot on the counter, "What are you going to do today?"

I shrugged. I would probably spend the whole day trying to figure out what I was going to say to Jared tomorrow. He'd told me these things about himself, but I wasn't sure if he was asking me anything. He had said all of the imprint nonsense very matter of factly, like this was how it was, whether I liked it or not and that made me uncomfortable. Even if I wanted him, and part of me definitely did, I wanted to feel as if it was my doing, not some kind of weird wolf trick that made me his. I didn't want to be somebody's _mate, _I wanted to be somebody's _love. _There was a difference and I only hoped that Jared could see that too.

But I didn't have to address it yet, so I curled up on the couch and popped in a few of my favorite movies. I had my computer balanced on my stomach as I surfed the web for anything that might be interesting. When Marcus left, the boredom really began to sink in, but it was worth it know that I wouldn't have to face Jared in class. I half expected him to text me at some point during the day, but when three o clock came around and I hadn't heard from him, I couldn't help but feel surprised. He had seemed so intense that afternoon on the beach and his frequent phone calls had solidified that. I wondered if it was possible for me to break whatever bond it was he claimed we had. If I resisted enough, would he eventually get over it or would it be this way forever? Could it be undone or redone? I didn't know. I hadn't wanted to hear any of those things when he had first told me what was going on. But the longer I thought about it, the more questions I was able to come up with.

I was upstairs around the time that Marcus came home. He usually did some school work in the kitchen and didn't like to be bothered, so I stayed in my room, keeping busy with whatever was on hand. It wasn't until four o clock that I hear the knock on the door. Then there was the shuffling of Marcus' stool and a pair of male voices. Without hesitation, my mind immediately went to Jared. I didn't even have to hear his voice clearly to know it was him. It was as if I had somehow sensed it.

I made my way down the stairs, lingering at the bottom step where I could hear them, but couldn't be seen.

"Marcus, I just want to see her." Jared was pleading with my brother. It must have been a funny scene, Jared being well over six feet tall and my stocky brother at five foot nine, blocking the door.

"Look man, you seem pretty chill," Marcus said and I could tell he felt bad for Jared, "But she doesn't want to see you, so you're going to have to go."

"Please? It'll only be a minute I swear." I could hear something off about his voice. He sounded tired and stressed, like he hadn't slept in days. I peaked around the corner and saw that he looked weary and a bit worse for the wear. Marcus was obviously not backing off. It was strange to see him playing this part, but I was happy that he had stepped up to the plate. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the way that Jared looked though. I had never seen him so...desperate. Obviously I had underestimated exactly how powerful this imprinting business was. There were times when I thought I could feel it, but it was obviously not the same as feeling it from his end.

"No. I'm sorry, but you freaked her out." Marcus, moved to close the door and, any polite person, would have stepped out of the door frame to allow him to do it. Jared was not moving. With I sigh, I stepped out from the stairwell.

"It's fine Marc. I'll handle this." Jared's face lit up the moment that he saw me and I could see the his shoulders release the tension that they had obviously been holding in.

"Kim!" he greeted me enthusiastically, "You're ok."

Marcus gave him a strange look and then glanced back at me as if to ask if I was sure. I nodded and he shrugged, before retreating into the living room, right within hearing distance of the pair of us.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at Jared, taking Marcus' place in the doorway so he couldn't come in without pushing me. "I told you I needed time."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't handle it." he admitted, "Being away from you it...it fucks me up."

"Jared..."

"I can go now. I just needed to see you and...hear your voice." he sighed, turning to walk away. I felt so guilty and I huge part of me understood his desire. Seeing him and hearing his voice after two days of not having that was refreshing. I felt unusually relaxed in his presence.

"Wait." I said, stepping out of the house. "We can talk now. I want to."

He turned so fast I thought he might fall over. He was smiling, but there was a strained pain underneath his outwardly happy face.

"Really?"

"Yes. Just not here...Marcus," I nodded towards the living room, "Is probably listening."

Jared nodded and began making his way to his car. I didn't even ask him where he was going, he just drove. There was an old soccer field on the far side of the Rez. It was usually empty, but the grass was sometimes kept up but the elderly man that lived up the road. Kids would sometimes go there for pick up games in the summer time. It had been a dry winter and unusually warm, so it wasn't strange for him to go there. It seemed he felt most comfortable outside anyway and it was less likely for someone to overhear us in a place like that anyway.

I sat down on the grass in the middle of the field and stared up at him, expectantly. I wasn't exactly sure where to start with this conversation or what to even say to him. So I watched him and I waited, hoping that he, at least, knew where to begin.

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><p>Reviews make me type faster and I love answering your questions!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! I KNOW! It's my gift to you all for being such awesome readers. But I seriously couldn't keep this one in anymore, so here it is! Ahhhh I'm so excited. I wrote this chapter before I even started writing this entire story, so basically, this chapter is where it all began. I really hope you guys like it! Now I need your help...what should happen next?

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>He was quiet for a moment, staring off towards the woods, trying to sort out his own head.<p>

"I shouldn't have started with the whole 'soul mate' thing." he said, "I just figured that Sam and his imprint are so happy, you would be too. I didn't realize...I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"Look," he said, staring into my eyes intently, "I've put some thought into what the whole imprint thing means and I think I've figured it out. I just want to be in your life. In whatever way you'll have me. I can be whatever you want, your brother, your boyfriend, your best friend, all you have to do is decide what you want me to be and I'll be it, happily."

"I-" The words caught in my throat. I didn't have an answer for him. He shook his head ruefully.

"Don't tell me now. Think about it. No pressure." he said, finally smiling. I smiled back, relieved that he didn't want me to decide everything without putting some thought into it. He moved to sit next to me and draped an arm over my shoulder before I had a chance to shiver in the cool night air that was setting in around us. I relaxed a bit into his shoulder and would have called the moment peaceful if it hadn't been broken by a howl off in the woods. Jared immediately tensed. I glanced up at him, surveying his face carefully.

"They need you?" I asked him. He looked down at me with eyes full of regret. I could tell that leaving was the last thing that he wanted to do.

"Yeah." he said, his voice tight, "Come on, I'll take you to Emily's."

"Emily Young's?" I asked. Why would he take me there, of all places? Jared nodded evenly.

"You'll be safest there." he said, "Emily is Sam's imprint. I'd feel better if the two of you were together while we're gone."

We were walking now, at a quick pace, towards his car. I climbed in on the passenger side and he started up the engine. Before he pressed down on the gas, he gave me a pointed look and I rolled my eyes, but begrudgingly clicked my seatbelt. He smiled and the car spluttered to life as he took off down the road. Jared was driving faster than usual and we arrived at Emily's within a few minutes. Jared jumped out of the car quickly and ushered me out onto the drive at an equally frantic pace. He walked with me to Emily's door and opened it without knocking.

"Em!" he shouted into the house. I could tell he wasn't going to be following me in. Emily Young appeared in the doorway. She looked surprised that Jared was here.

"Jared? Sam's looking for you, you have to go." she insisted. Jared waved her off impatiently.

"I know, I know." he muttered, then grabbed my hand. It was then that she noticed I was there. "This is Kim, Em. Can she stay here with you until I come back?"

Emily's face broke into a warm smile and, despite her scars, I couldn't help but think she was beautiful. She nodded eagerly and gestured for me to enter. Before taking a step, I gave Jared one last look.

"Whatever you do Kim, don't go outside. Promise me?" he asked me in a low voice.

"I promise." I whispered back without hesitation. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, nodded to Emily and then sprinted off into the woods behind her house. Slightly dazed, I entered Emily's house and followed after her into the kitchen. She pulled out a stool at the counter and I took it, happy to be sitting once again. I was starting to doubt that my legs could support me. Emily had clearly been baking before I arrived and quickly got back to what she was doing, all the while watching my face.

"You look a bit shell shocked." she commented lightly, after a few moments of silence, "I'm guessing he told you everything?"

"Yeah, he did. A few days ago, actually." I said, allowing all of the information I had learned up until that point to come flooding back into my head.

"Well you seem to be taking it well." she said conversationally. I laughed drily.

"If by that you mean not checking myself into a mental ward, then I suppose I am."

Emily laughed along with me for a moment. She seemed so confident and adjusted, as if she had the perfect life and I wondered how long it had taken her to get there.

"It's the imprint thing, isn't it?" she asked me. Of everything that Jared had told me, that was the one thing that really was eating away at me. Could I, at the age of seventeen, decide what kind of relationship I wanted to have with him for the rest of my life? And would I be able to change my mind once I made my choice?

"Yeah. I-" I hesitated, "He said it was up to me. That he would be whatever I wanted. But what if I don't know what I want him to be? Where does that leave us?"

Emily set down the bowl that she had been mixing and leaned her elbows on the counter adjacent to me. She stared a me for a long moment.

"Tell you what Kim. When they come back I want you to focus really hard on exactly how you feel about Jared the first time you see him." she told me, "And then, I think, you'll have your answer."

I considered this for a moment and slowly nodded. Emily returned to the scones that she was making and, in an effort to distract me from the turmoil in my mind, asked me to help her shape each lump of dough into neat triangles. I did as she instructed in an almost robotic manner, staring at the clock until the lit numbers blurred into nothing. I was barely aware of my surroundings or the small talk that Emily was calmly making. I felt as if there was a part of me missing and whatever was left of me was terrified. Jared had been away from me before, so it wasn't that he wasn't here. It was that he wasn't here and I _knew_ where ever he was, he was risking his life. He called me his soul mate and I was denying him, but he still put on a brave face and went out to do whatever it was that the wolves did. I felt guilty and, I couldn't help but worry. It wasn't until I heard a howl from outside the window that I snapped out of my own inner monologue and realized I had been in the same cationic state for nearly three hours. Emily glanced towards the front door.

"They're back." she breathed lightly and I followed her as she hurried to the door. She glanced into the yard before she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. From the woods, dark figures were emerging. I scanned over them, searching for a familiar face. Emily sat down on the steps and I saw one of them pick up speed to run to her. It was Sam. The moonlight cast over the faces of the remaining two boys and I found him. He looked tired, but not hurt. I felt as if my heart had unclenched and I relaxed for the first time in hours. I didn't know what came over me. All the confusion I had felt since he had confessed the truth was replaced by a desire to be near him. I was consumed by the urge to touch him, to know for myself if he was alright. He was too far from me and suddenly I felt so cold. I took off in a sprint across the yard, not even thinking about my actions, only knowing that if I didn't get to him soon, I would have some kind of fit. I jumped onto him when he was within my reach, securing my arms around his neck in a tight grip and my legs wrapped around his waist instinctively. He caught me as if it was habit, second nature and held me firmly to him. I stared into his brown eyes for only a moment and I knew. I knew exactly what I wanted. And so I kissed him.

He was frozen for a moment before he responded, allowing his lips to move with mine. It felt completely and totally right and I had never felt so whole. He walked towards Emily's house, never losing contact, until he finally broke away, right as he reached the steps of the porch. Emily and Sam were watching us and Emily had a knowing smile on her face. Jared pressed his forehead to mine and sighed happily. The underlying worry that seemed to always be etched in his face had now been completely erased.

"Is that an answer?" he asked me after a moment. I smiled and nodded eagerly.

"Forever, like this. That's what I want." I replied and he beamed, before kissing me again. I couldn't get enough of the searing heat of his lips, the way his warm arms felt wrapped around me and the comfort that I now felt knowing that we belonged to one another. It was short lived however, as I heard someone clear their throat behind us. I craned my neck to see who was interrupting us. Emily and Sam had gone inside and Paul was standing in the doorway, with his arms crossed over his chest tightly.

"As much as I love a happy ending," he said drily, "Emily isn't letting us eat until the two of you come inside. Can you postpone your face sucking until later so I don't starve to death?"

Jared glared at Paul, but gently set me down on the ground. We entered Emily's house hand in hand and went to the kitchen, which was now full of wonderful scents and smells that I hadn't noticed earlier. She handed me a scone with a warm smile and then hugged me.

"Welcome to the family." Emily whispered into my ear and I couldn't help but smile back. This was right.

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><p>Ok! They're together now, so I need help...what happens next? Review!<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Ok, this is a little bit of filler fluff as I try to sort out the direction I'm going to head in next. Happy Birthday to Alekzz! It's still the 7th in my timezone, so it's still your birthday! Hope you guys like this chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>"We came this close," Paul said, holding up two fingers to demonstrate just <em>how<em> close, "To catching that smelly leech. Bitch is crazy fast."

We were sitting in Emily's living room, the plates of food decimated on her coffee table and Paul animatedly telling us what they had done off in the woods that evening. Sam and Jared didn't seem to care about the story much, they had lived it, but Emily and I were watching Paul with rapt attention. I was surprised, I'd never heard Paul say this much in the entire time that I had known him. I zeroed in on the word_ fast_ and glanced at Jared with wide eyes. I had taken a seat in an armchair across from the sofa and Jared had perched himself on the arm. Somehow, in the course of an hour, he had slipped into the chair and (thanks to his subtle shifting) I had ended up seated on his thighs. Even though he lounged back in the chair, slouched with his legs stretched out in front of him, the muscles in his left arm, the one wrapped around my waist, were still tense. It was as if he was poised to grab onto me should he have to. He raised his eyebrows when I craned my neck to look at him.

"How fast?" I demanded, unable to keep the worry from my voice. It was amazing how quickly things had changed. Now that I knew he was literally risking his neck protecting the reservation and now that I had spent three hours unable to find out if he was alright, I was finding myself suddenly less freaked out by the soul mate aspect of being a protector and more concerned that he might get hurt. Jared smirked.

"We can outrun them, don't worry about it." he seemed please though, by my reaction. Like I was finally handling things the way that he wanted me to. Sitting on his lap and being concerned for him. It was all...girlfriendy stuff, stuff that I believed myself immune to. Still, I couldn't help but fall into the role naturally. Jared seemed to bring it out in me, I supposed, the worrying and the comfort on just sitting with him. I had never felt those things with my exes and it was slightly thrilling to feel them with Jared for the first time.

"Easy for you to say." I muttered and he frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked me, sitting up a bit straighter, adjusting my entire body with ease as he moved. Paul was watching us curiously and Emily had an amused smile on her face.

"What I _mean_ is that you would have some kind of a break down if I went off somewhere for three hours and you _knew _it was dangerous." I said and gestured towards the couch, "Sam too, if Emily went off with me. So don't tell me not to worry. I reserve that right."

Emily laughed outright and Jared made a face at me.

"Oh she's got you there, Jared." Emily said with a grin, "We can worry all we want, can't we Kim?"

I nodded.

"And we also get to give you tons of grief for making us worry." I added with a broad smile. Jared and Sam looked indignant.

"Thats not fair." Jared protested, looping his other arm around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Life isn't fair, hon." I retorted, "You'll just have to work hard to make it up to me."

Jared laughed, but Sam seemed to take my comment seriously. He reached for Emily's hand and pulled her up off the couch, staring at her intently. Without a word to any of us, as if we weren't even there, he began to drag her towards the bedrooms in the back of the house. Paul made a face.

"Well, that's our cue." he said, standing up, "Give me a ride home, Jar?"

Jared stood up, setting me upright and throwing his arm over my shoulders possessively.

"But I've got to take Kim home. You live on the other side of the Rez." Jared protested and Paul frowned.

"Forget it then. I'll get home faster if I skip your long good byes." he rolled his eyes at us as he bounded down the steps. He ran out ahead of us a safe distance and dropped his shorts before either of us had to time to react. He exploded into a wolf seconds later.

"Paul you indecent ass." Jared shouted as the wolf barked happily, grabbed the shorts in his teeth and took off towards the woods. Jared shook his head.

"Sorry about him." he muttered, "He approves of you. This is just how he shows it."

"Approves of me?" I laughed, "God, this is really that serious, isn't it?"

Jared stared at me for a very long moment, before he carefully brushed my hair behind my right ear. He leaned down tentatively, before pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. It wasn't like before, when it was desperate and hungry. This was different. It was sweet and innocent, but with enough pressure that his underlying feelings could hardly be missed. He pulled away carefully and placed one of his burning hands on each of my cheeks. Cupping my face he bent down to gaze into my eyes.

"You are everything to me." he said slowly, "Everything. So yes. It _is _that serious."

My eyes got wide and I nodded slowly. He kissed my forehead for good measure before his arm was around me again and we were walking towards his car once more. I got into the passenger side and he went around to get in the drivers side. I couldn't help but yawn as he started up the car and it began to bump down the road. We were at my house in minutes. It was possible that I had dozed off in the comfortable silence of the car. But before I knew it, we had pulled into my driveway and he was putting the car in park outside my front door. I wasn't exactly sure what to do next. Part of me, a huge part of me, wanted to invite him in and jump his bones. But that wasn't exactly the impression I wanted to give him. I didn't want Jared to think I was easy, that he could kiss me and I'd have sex with him immediately after. But I could see in his face that the last thing he wanted to do was leave.

In an effort to stall on making a decision, I leaned over to give him a kiss goodbye. The angle was awkward enough, I hated in-car kisses and I found myself crawling over the armrest to straddle his lap. The bottom of the steering wheel pressed against my lower back as his arms snaked around me and pulled me closer. His hand began to snake under my shirt and I grinned, but interrupted our kiss to bite his bottom lip lightly. He immediately removed his hand and gave me a guilty smile.

"Sorry." he muttered, "Can't control myself."

I laughed and rested my forehead on his, settling on a compromise to my earlier dilemma.

"How do you feel about _cuddling_?" I asked him, with a very serious look on my face. He chuckled.

"If it's with you, I'm a fan." he said. I smiled.

"Good answer."

"Why?" he sounded slightly hopeful, as if he knew where I was headed with that question, but didn't even want to admit it to himself.

"I don't like to sleep alone." I told him, "So if you wanted to stay..."

He grinned.

"Well I wouldn't object to having you as a pillow." I finished and, if possible, his smile grew wider.

"Did I not mention 'human pillow' in the list of things I could be for you? Brother, best friend, human pillow, boyfriend." he rattled off part of his speech from earlier, "Also, personal space heater is on that list as well."

"Noted. I have unbelievably cold feet, by the way." I informed him, opening his door and disentangling myself from the car. He followed me out and to my door, which was (as per usual) unlocked. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and simply walked in after me. Marcus was nowhere to be seen and I assumed he was off at one of his friend's houses for the night.

We got to my room and I glanced around, thankful that I hadn't left too much of a mess when I gone out with him that afternoon. My bed was unmade, but that was typical for any teenager. I kicked on of my bras into the closet.

"Let me just...put some different clothes on." I said, grabbing a pair of light shorts and a tank top from my drawer and darting down the hall to the bathroom I shared with my brother. I inspected my face carefully after I changed my clothes, smoothing out my hair and making sure there weren't circles of mascara under my eyes. Satisfied, I returned to my room to find Jared sprawled out on my bed with his eyes closed. I smiled at how peaceful he seemed and flicked the lights off.

I placed my knee on the edge of the bed, about to crawl in next to him when his arm wrapped around my waist and he gave a firm tug. I fell forward onto his chest and his immediately enveloped me in his arms. I sighed and settled my head on his chest, feeling comfortable and warm without the extra blankets that I usually slept under. The thin sheet that Jared had somehow pulled over us would do just fine with him around. I closed my eyes and started to allow his rhythmic breathing to sooth me into sleep.

"Hey Kim?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Yeah Jere?" I murmured against his skin.

"Can you promise me something?" he breathed out into the darkness of the room. I hesitated before I replied.

"I don't know. What is it?" There was a pause. Finally he sucked in a breathe, his chest swelled a bit at the action.

"Promise me you won't change your mind." he said finally and I smiled.

"I can do that."

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><p>Ok! They're together now, so I need help...what happens next? Review!<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

Ok wow. I am so sorry about how long this has taken. And about how meh this chapter is. I'm having a hard time figuring out where I'm going with the story. I've got a few chapters for later on written, but now it's a matter of connecting them into the present story line. I'll figure it out, but posts are definitely going to take me some time.

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>It was, surprisingly, one of the best nights sleeps I had ever gotten. Jared's warm body was unbelievably soothing, like sitting in a tub of hot water or basking in the sunlight. And he held me as if I would somehow be taken from him if he let go in the slightest. Normally I wasn't a huge fan of possessiveness, but it suited Jared. The way he so obviously needed me, now that I was finally starting to notice it, was endearing to me. If I had my way, we would stay in this spot for the rest of the week. However, my daily alarm went off and I knew that both of us would be expected at school sooner or later. I, of course, would have preferred later, but I had used by 'get out of school free' card the day before. That meant that the pair of us were going to have to get up and go. I sighed and nuzzled my face into his chest a bit. The movement caused him to stir a bit and he yawned before blinking his eyes to rid them of sleep. I propped my chin up on his chest and rolled off my side and onto my stomach, half on top of him and half on the mattress. He readjusted his arms to hold me there firmly and smiled sleepily down at me.<p>

"Can I wake up like this every day?" he murmured, brushing some of the hair out of my face. I couldn't help but smile.

"I'd like that." I admitted. Sleeping with him next to me had felt right. The sort of right that only happened in romance novels and chick flicks. The sort of right that no one my age believed in anymore. I felt as if I was living in some kind of secret, far corner of happiness that no one knew about.

"Good. Because I wasn't exactly planning on giving you a choice in the matter." he said, matter of factly, before he grinned at me with scheming look in his eyes. I raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn't have enough time to speak, because in the next second he had flipped us both over. While I was thoroughly pinned, the way his muscles were slightly tense indicated to me that he was being cautious about setting his full weight on me. He immediately took advantage of the situation, descending upon my lips with a forceful and unbelievably passionate kiss good morning. I responded enthusiastically, sliding my hands around his neck in a effort to pull him closer and weaving my fingers through his short, dark hair. His lips seared over mine with unbelievable heat as his tongue dove into my mouth with the same possessiveness that was evident in all of his actions towards me. And just when I was certain that my lips would burn off from the contact, he broke away and began to work his way over my chin, down my neck and across my shoulder, leaving a burning trail of soft kisses in his wake.

It took some serious refocusing to remind myself that we actually had to get out of my bed eventually, but I waited until he reached the top of my arms and began moving in reverse to speak up.

"Jared?" I sighed.

"Mm?"

"We're going to be late for school." I said in a flat tone. He groaned loudly and buried his forehead in the crook of my neck. He was quiet for a moment.

"Or we could just not go." he suggested, without moving at all. I could feel his breath on my skin.

"I didn't go yesterday." I reminded him.

"Nasty, 48 hour bug must be going around." he said, lifting his head and grinning at me.

"Marcus isn't going to go for that." I sighed, though I wished I could be able to convince him to let me stay home with Jared all day, "Come on. We can pick this up after school."

He frowned, obviously unhappy with this suggestion.

"See here's my problem with that." I made a move as if to push him off of me, but he held firm, "I had to wait _weeks _to kiss you. So I've got a great deal of catching up to do. Can't waste time with school when we've wasted so much of it already."

"That is a compelling argument." I said, lifting my head to peck a kiss on his lips. He was distracted for the moment and I took the opportunity to wiggle out from under him. "But not quite compelling enough."

And with that, I moved towards the closet, just as he reached out to pull me back. I was quicker though, but suspected I wouldn't have been had he been trying harder. I sifted through my clothes for a moment before I settled on some knit stockings, a dark denim mini skirt and a black v-neck shirt. I took a few steps towards the door and heard Jared shift on the bed behind me.

"You know, you could just change in here." he suggested, with a hopeful smile. I shook my head and just as I was halfway out the door, I turned and gave him a cheeky smile.

"You're such a dog, Jere." I laughed. He chucked a pillow in my direction, but it missed me by a foot as I ran down the hallway to the bathroom. I grinned in the mirror as I quickly tossed on my clothes and attempted to turn my hair into something that didn't look like a mess. Finally some hair spray got it falling in waves over my shoulders and I gave one last look to the mirror, deciding I was satisfied with my appearance. I reentered my room to find Jared sprawled out on my bed in the manner I had left him, the only difference being that he had changed his clothes.

"Do you have a closet in this house that I don't know about." I teased him, as I sat down to brush on some quick makeup before we were seriously late. He just laughed and tugged on my hand. I set my makeup down on the vanity and followed him out the door. We were both smiling as we came into the kitchen. Apparently, Marcus was starting to make a habit of being downstairs when I woke up and, sure enough, my brother was perched on the counter top with a box of cereal in hand. He raised an eyebrow at the pair of us.

"So do you live here now or something?" he asked Jared in a dry tone. Jared just grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. I rolled my eyes at Marcus. My brother shrugged. "Not that I really care. But if you're pregnant or something when Mom gets back, she'll murder me."

"Oh my God, Marcus." I groaned. I could tell that he was only slightly concerned that my mother would come home to find me pregnant and that he really just wanted to make Jared as uncomfortable as possible. Jared didn't seem phased by the fact that my brother had just made an implication about our sexual activities. He just laughed again.

"Somehow, I feel like I would be the dead one in that case." he said lightly, like it was nothing. "So I wouldn't worry about it too much."

I wasn't sure if Marcus was annoyed or impressed by the fact that he had a hard time intimidating Jared. Ian had held a bit of wariness towards him and had always sought some form of approval in one way or another. Jared didn't seem to care if Marcus liked him or not, if he laughed at him or with him. It didn't matter. He was happy just to be around.

We arrived at school with minutes until home room. As we walked towards the main doors, Jared stopped me.

"Just so we're clear," he said slowly, winding his fingers into mine, "I get to tell everyone you're my girlfriend, right?"

"Girlfriend? God doesn't that sound a bit too..." I wrinkled my nose, "_Normal_?"

He laughed.

"Well it does. If you'd rather, I could tell everyone about the whole 'wolf-soulmate' thing. I'm sure that will go over _so_ much better."

"Right. Girlfriend it is." I sighed, squeezing his hand a bit as we began walking into the school once more.

As I slid into the seat next to Jackie, I was smiling broadly. She raised an eyebrow in my direction, looking confused.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked me, obviously intrigued.

"Jared Cameron is my boyfriend." I said lightly, as if it was nothing at all. Her jaw dropped a bit and I could help but grin.

"When did _that _happen?"

"Last night." I replied, "He came to see me, worried about me being sick and it...just sort of..._happened._"

"_It_?" she asked, with a skeptical glance. I elbowed her roughly.

"No! We didn't. Not like that." I muttered. Jackie's mind always seemed to go right down the drain. "I mean, we talked about what was happening with us. I mean, after the fight with him and Ian, we had to sort things out."

Like the fact that he was my wolf changing soul mate. Or something. I had conveniently left that part out.

"Just like that?" she asked.

"Just like that." I replied. Jackie sighed.

"God Kim." she said wistfully, "But _really_? How on earth did you resist sleeping with him?"

I sighed.

"Pure willpower."

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><p>I love reviews! Knowing you guys like the story helps me to keep writing it!<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Ohhh I've hit an idea now. Hopefully this will keep me going for a little while. I'm trying to flesh out Paul a little more, so there's a lot more of him in this chapter. So enjoy guys!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>Paul grinned obnoxiously in my direction and gave Jared an unusually forceful nudge in the ribs when I entered our government class. I rolled my eyes as I took my seat.<p>

"Hi Paul." I greeted him with a broad smile, before meeting Jared's eyes, "Hey."

He smiled at me and I could see contentment in his face. I had noticed that Jared tended to be exceptionally expressive and, up until recently, I had only seen him took thoroughly happy on a few occasions. If something was bothering him, worrying him or just on his mind, it showed in his expression. However, since last night, he seemed to be at peace with the world at all times. This comforted me a bit. Before, whenever he looked like something was bothering him, he had probably been thinking about what he was going to tell me to make me understand what was happening. Now that his face has cleared of all worry, I was satisfied that there would be no more surprises. Then again, I was pretty sure there couldn't possibly be anything else without the whole situation taking a turn for the ridiculous.

"So Kim." Paul said, leaning over Jared's desk with the intent purpose of getting his best friend to roll his eyes. "How was your night?"

Jared kicked him before I could even answer. I laughed and shook my head as Jared glared at his best friend.

"Alright, alright." Paul conceded, leaning back in his own seat, "Not like I won't be hearing about it later," He paused to shoot Jared a dirty look, "On _repeat._"

I gave Jared a questioning look and he shrugged, obviously a bit embarrassed.

"I have a hard time getting you out of my head. Sam says it takes practice." he muttered. I was confused momentarily, as my mind wasn't accustomed to his abilities just yet. When it dawned on me that Paul was referring to the mind sharing that Jared had referenced, I couldn't help but feel touched. I ran my fingers through my hair, watching Jared closely.

"How often do you think about me?" I couldn't resist asking him, even though I felt slightly stupid for doing so. Jared glanced down for a moment and Paul took this opportunity to leaned back over his desk again.

"All the fucking time." he deadpanned, earning him a rough shove back into his seat. The teacher shot him a warning look and Jared did his best to look sorry. He then turned his attention back to me.

"All the time." he replied quietly, before he attempted to refocus on the lecture. Obviously, this was hardly the place and so I followed his lead, feigning interest in the lecture at hand. Paul promptly fell asleep.

Paul had taken to sitting next to me in eight period pre-calculus, though he liked to play it off as if it was nothing. Still I noticed that every day, as I walked in, he tugged his bag out of the seat he was saving for me. I sat down next to him.

"Hey." I greeted with a warm smile. He grinned and nodded to me, "So I've got a question for you."

"Yes, I'd be happy to tell you embarrassing stories about Jared." he quipped and I rolled my eyes. For someone who had barely passed more than eleven years of public school, he could be clever.

"No, not that." I said, waving the suggestion off, "I wanted to know...you and me, so we're...friends now?"

He looked a bit surprised by the question. He considered his answer for a moment.

"Jared is my brother." he said finally, "Not like as a metaphor or whatever. The stuff we do...just...he's my _brother_."

I nodded. That made sense. Jared had never directly said the words, but I could tell his friendship with Paul was stronger than most.

"And you well...being his _you know_...that makes you family too." he shrugged, in a rare moment of seriousness, "We're forever kind of people. That's how it is."

"Alright then." I said, surprised by his answer. I had expected a joke, maybe him to laugh at me, but Paul seemed to take it much more seriously than I had expected him to. It dawned on me that Paul had accepted me as a permanent fixture in Jared life and, therefore, a permanent fixture in his own. I gave Paul a slight smile as I opened my notebook. "Thanks, Paul."

He just grunted.

Jared was waiting for us when the final bell rang and we exited our class. He was leaning against the wall, his phone out and his brow furrowed. He glanced up as soon as we were within a few feet of him.

"Did you check your phone?" he asked Paul, as he reached for me and pulled me close.

"Nope. Too busy hitting on your girl here." Paul said with a nod to me. I rolled my eyes and I could tell that Jared had glared at Paul in response.

"Sam sent me a text." he said, deciding to ignore his friend's comment, "She's back."

Paul's face broke into a wicked grin. I was getting the sense that he enjoyed this work more than any of the other members of the pack.

"Alright then. Let's go."

"Kim, can you skip practice today?" Jared asked me and I nodded. The season ended in two weeks anyway and we only had one game left. Coach might make me run a few extra laps, but the look on Jared's face was so desperate that I was starting to think it might be worth it. When it came to vampires, I figured it would safe to assume he was the expert on the matter.

Jared drove ridiculously fast to Emily's house. He didn't speak the entire ride there, instead kept one hand firmly on the wheel and other one knotted tightly with mine. Every so often he would glance in the rearview to see that Paul was following behind us in his dad's old pickup.

Emily was on the porch waiting for us when we arrived.

"Sam said she was on the northern boundaries." Emily told Jared and Paul, as they got out of their cars. Paul nodded and sprinted off in the direction that Emily had indicated. Seconds after he disappeared into the tree line, I heard a howl. Jared brushed his fingers over my cheek.

"Can you be safe please?" I asked him and he nodded, before ducking his head to press a firm kiss to my lips. By the time I opened my eyes, he was already halfway to the forest edge. I turned and headed towards Emily's with a weary smile on my face.

"I hate this part." I said, as I followed her inside.

"You get used to it." she replied with a smile, "At least you don't have to wait alone. I'm glad I'm not the only imprint anymore."

"I don't know how you did it." I admitted and she laughed.

"I wasn't this much of a baker before." she said, "But all this waiting has given me plenty of time to practice."

We entered her small kitchen and she began to get supplies out of the cabinets.

"So, how are things with you and Jared?" she asked this question like I hadn't seen her the day before and like things hadn't taken a complete one eighty since then. Still, I smiled.

"Good...I think." I admitted, "It's weird, I try not to think about the soul mate aspect too much. It's strange to think about being with someone forever."

Emily nodded.

"I understand. Especially at your age." she said, "And mine too...I guess. People always think I'm rushing into marriage too young."

"You're getting married?" I asked her, surprised. Jared hadn't mentioned that at all, but I suppose it was understandable with everything else that was going on.

"Next spring." Emily said, looking a bit giddy over the idea of it, "Sam could have done without it, of course, but I don't know...we have to do something the normal way, right?"

The thought of marriage hadn't even occurred to me. She was right though, there had to be some aspect of their relationship that fell into the norms of society. But it was the same strange feeling I got when Jared called me his girlfriend.

"Makes sense." I admitted, "You don't think it will always be this way, do you?"

"They have to stop shifting eventually." Emily sighed, cracking a few eggs into a bowl, while she gestured at me for the butter on the counter. I handed it to her and she added it in after the eggs. "I mean, eventually, either the vampires will be gone or they'll be replaced by younger shifters."

That made sense. While I wasn't clear on the finer details, the idea that there would be shifters coming up on the Rez to replace them as they got older seemed fine to me. It was only just starting the sink in that what Jared did was dangerous. Life or death _dangerous_. And in truth, I wasn't sure if I liked that idea, whether it was for the greater good or not. Call me selfish, but I really just wanted him in one piece.

With the muffins in the oven, Emily and I retired to her living room, where we flipped through bridal magazines and I attempted to figure out something she could do for favors that _wasn't _jordan almonds. Hours passed by slowly, with the pair of us moving from task to task. We made muffins and brownies, read all of her magazines twice and talked aimlessly about everything, except for the men that we were currently waiting on. I was sprawled out on her sofa when the howl broke through our boredom. Emily and I both jumped, looked at one another and then scrambled out onto the porch.

Sure enough, a dark figure was coming through the trees. Paul was striding towards us, in his low slung cutoffs with sweat on his forehead. Sam and Jared weren't with him, though Emily did not seem as concerned by this. I got the sense that Sam did a lot of time patrolling alone, with it being just the three of them. While Jared and Paul were at school or off doing other things, Sam carried the pack's burden's alone. I, however, was not as accustomed to this lifestyle yet and I had expected Jared to walk through those trees. My stomach twisted as I sprinted out to greet Paul in space between her house and the woods. His face was tight and I was beginning to panic a bit.

"Paul." I said, glancing around, confusion on my face, "Where is Jared?"

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><p>I love reviews! Knowing you guys like the story helps me to keep writing it!<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

Hey everyone! Glad you guys are still enjoying the story. I'm pretty excited to see what you guys think of this chapter. I definitely think it is going to explore a different side of Kim and Jared's relationship. So let me know...I love your feedback!

**Disclaimer: **Same as before. I don't own Twilight or Jared and Kim.

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><p>I was starting to feel a bit sick. Jared had yet to make an appearance in Emily's yard and Paul was just standing there, looking uncomfortably grim.<p>

"Where is he, Paul?" I demanded, feeling angry now. Paul swallowed. He obviously did not want to be doing this.

"He's coming, don't worry." Paul said, glancing over his shoulder, "He just..."

"What happened?" My voice was low now. I did not take kindly to people beating around the bush and this was getting on my nerves. Paul looked past me to Emily, who was watching us carefully from her porch.

"He was chasing her, she's quick and he..." Paul sucked in a breathe, "He fell into a ravine. Broke his shoulder and his arm. Couple of really nasty gashes from the rocks. Maybe even broke a few ribs."

My head was spinning. Was he going to be okay? Why was Paul this calm about it? I knew that some of the ravine's in this area were steep. People had died falling into them before. Jared was lucky to be alive.

"How can I not worry?" I asked him, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone, "Did someone call an ambulance?"

I was about to dial the number, when Paul took the phone from me. I reached for it, but he held it out of my grasp.

"What the fuck!" I scrambled to try and get my phone back, "He needs a doctor, Paul!"

Paul's eyes widened.

"Oh my God, he didn't tell you?" There was realization in his voice.

"Tell me what?" I huffed, jumping for the phone again. Paul easily held it out of my grasp.

"We heal faster than normal humans." Paul said simply. I stopped jumping. "The breaks are clean, they don't have to be reset. And the less serious gashes have already healed over. He's in pain and he can't run right now, so Sam is helping him get back."

From behind me I heard Emily sigh in relief. I slapped Paul's shoulder, knowing better than to put much force behind it, but it still stung a bit.

"Why didn't you say that first?" I demanded, angry now that Paul had allowed me to think something horrible had happened and that Jared wouldn't be coming back.

"I thought he told you about the healing." Paul insisted, looking as if he felt guilty about the whole thing.

"Well he didn't." I said shortly. I moved around Paul to stare in the direction that he had come from, in hopes that he and Sam would not be far behind. There was obviously still a lot that I didn't know about the wolf shifting. After all, I had only been in the loop for a few days and I had only been accepting of it for just over twenty four hours. This time last night seemed like it had been so long ago. It felt like lifetimes had passed, like I couldn't even relate to that person who was so unsure and so hesitant to care for him. All I wanted now was for him to come out of the woods so I could kiss him. It was slowly beginning to dawn on me that, someday, something could happen that would take that from me.

I stood there for what felt like ages, but finally, there was movement in trees and two figures emerged. Jared was walking slowly, one arm hanging limply and the other clutching his shoulder. I made to sprint towards him, but Paul was faster and he caught me by the waist, both arms holding me tightly as he leaned down to speak in my ear.

"Probably shouldn't tackle him. His bones are still healing themselves." And with that he released me. I began to walk towards him now and Jared picked up his pace a bit, until Sam clapped a warning hand on his good shoulder. He shouldn't strain himself too much. There were splashes of dried blood up and down his arms and legs, from where his gashes and cuts had all healed over. When I finally got to him, he stopped and we stared at each other for a long moment. Sam continued walking, obviously eager to get to Emily. With a shaky hand, I reached out and brushed my fingertips along the black and blue bruises that covered the entire right side of his torso. Obviously, this was where his ribs had been broken in several places. I watched as, even now, the splotches began to resemble the natural color of his skin. He was healing right before my eyes.

"I thought I told you to be safe." I said quietly, unsure of exactly what to do at the moment. Part of me, a huge part, wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold onto him until someone pried me off. The other part of me was furious. Furious that he could be so careless, furious that he had gotten hurt on his own accord. He didn't even need a vampire to injure himself so severely, he was quite obviously capable of doing enough damage on his own. He looked guilty and cast his eyes downward.

"Sorry." he said quietly.

"Come on." I said, reaching for his hand, "I'll take you home."

By home, I meant my house. After waiting for him for hours, only to think for a terrifying moment that something had gone wrong, there was no way I was going to drop him off at his place and just leave. Emily had insisted he wash the blood off before going anywhere and the pair of us has carefully cleaned him off with water from her hose. I drove his car, after much insisting on my part, through the darkened streets of La Push. As we arrived at my home, he insisted that his bones were entirely healed and, maybe, only a bit sore from their rapid repair. I gave him a skeptical look as we entered the house.

Marcus must have gone out, because his car wasn't outside and the lights were all off. It was past nine. Six hours of sitting around Emily's waiting for him had made me tired and it was obvious that his day's work had worn him out as well. He collapsed into my bed, his eyes settling closed. I stripped out of my shirt, skirt and tights, modesty be damned, and into a tank top and jersey shorts, before I climbed onto the bed next to him. I sat there was a moment, my knees tucked up against my chest, with one hip pressed to his. He wrapped a hand around my ankle, his eyes still closed, and we stayed like that for a while. Finally, I noted that his bruises had pretty much faded completely.

"Stop worrying about it." Jared said after a while, eyes still closed, as if he could sense that I was running the possibility of him getting hurt worse the next time over and over in my head.

I sighed and moved to straddle his hips, the part of him that I was sure hadn't taken any serious hits. Even still, I was cautious to keep my weight on my knees, instead of on him. His hands moved automatically, settling on my upper thighs, where his thumbs traced searing circles in perfect rhythm. Carefully, as if he might break again, I leaned over him, my hair falling across his torso in shining black waves. I slowly began to scatter kisses in all the places that I knew he'd been hurt, starting with his ribs and moving up over his shoulder and down his arm. And then I made my way back in the other direction. As I came up around his shoulder the second time, I felt his hands grasp my cheeks and he gently lifted my face so it was level with his. In a moment of panic, I slammed my hands down on the mattress on either side of his torso so I wouldn't settle any of my weight on him. He smirked at my reaction.

"Not that I don't appreciate the attention, because believe me, I do." he said slowly, obviously amused, "But _stop worrying about it_."

And with that he kissed me, fiercely, as if to prove that he was healthy with that one kiss. And despite the fact that I was still worrying, in the back of my mind at least, I surrendered myself to it and kissed him back just as much. His hand seared up my back and then down again, gripping the backside of my thighs and pulling me closer to him. I gave in.

Hours later, when I was sweating from being wrapped up in such a warm body for so long, we laid in my bed with the sheets kicked off to one side. He was drifting off to sleep, tracing patterns on my stomach where his insisting hands had pushed my shirt up. My mind was still restless with the thought of him hurt, with the uncertainty of what could happen to him. It was selfish and I knew it, but I had to ask.

"Jared?"

"Mm?" His chest vibrated against my back with his response. I sucked in a breath, hesitant now, which was an unusual feeling.

"If I asked you to stop, would you?" His hand froze and he tensed against me.

"Stop what, Kim?" his voice was sharper now, no longer clouded with sleep.

"Stop chasing vampires."

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><p>I love reviews! Let me know what you think of the story!<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

Again, a long time coming, I know. Who knew senior year of college would be so demanding? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll get to work on the next one ASAP.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or these characters etc etc.

My request hung in the air after the words lefts my mouth. Jared was stiff against me, so much so that for a moment I thought he had stopped breathing.

"Don't do that, Kim." he finally said, after what seemed like ages. I rolled over so that I could look at him and the moment I moved, Jared shifted to lie on his back, his hands folded just above his naval. It was the first time that he had ever pulled away from me completely and I knew that I had hit a nerve. Still, I had always been the sort to ask for what I wanted and I wasn't sure if I could handle getting close to Jared if there was the possibility that he would get hurt. Or die. Which was looking like a definite possibility at the moment. He had already asked me for so much and I had agreed, at the time, but now that I was beginning to get the full picture it was obvious that this wasn't quite the fairy tale he had originally made it out to be. Soul mates sounded nice, idealistic and like a long lost happily-ever-after. But Jared hadn't mentioned the waiting and the worrying and the fact that, one day, he just might not come back. Was I old enough to bury my soul mate? No. No I definitely was not.

"Do what?" I demanded, "What is so wrong with me wanting you safe?"

He sighed and closed his eyes tight. He was tired, we both were, but it was obvious that neither of us would be getting to sleep now.

"Don't put me in this position." he muttered, his jaw tight and his eyes scrunched closed. I rolled my eyes. These wolf shifter types could be dramatic when they wanted to be, I had noticed.

"I don't see why it's a bad position to be in." I reasoned, "You shouldn't be out there risking your neck like that. You're still a _kid, _Jared."

He was still at this. He didn't seem like a kid. We were both barely seventeen, I would never go so far as to call either of us adults, but kid hardly seemed to be the right word anymore either. Jared was more like a man than anyone I knew. I often had to remind myself that I had known him since we were children, that he was my peer and not my elder. Still, when facing possible death, it was easier to frame him as the unprepared child. It would be easier to talk him out of it that way.

He shifted to sit up, his back to me and his elbows resting on his knees. He let his face drop into his hands, a pose that made him seem more adult than he had before. Finally, he sighed, letting his fingers run up over his forehead and hair, ending entwined at the back of his neck. His muscles flexed in this position, caught in the shadows cast from the mixture of the moonlight and the porch lights Marcus left on.

"You can't ask me to choose between something you want and what I was made to do." he said finally. I scrambled to sit up, crossing my legs and readjusting my disheveled clothes. The sweat caused by his body heat was cold against my hairline and I watched his form for a long moment.

"You already did your part, Jer." I insisted, "Emily said there would be other wolves, they can take over for you."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Then how does it work?" I demanded, getting annoyed, "Do you just keep doing this until something kills you?"

He flinched at this comment, but said nothing.

"I will not bury you, Jared." I said finally, my voice low and shaking, "I won't do it. You can't ask me to."

He still didn't look at me. He sat there unmoving, until finally, I pushed myself as far away from him on the bed as possible and laid down with my back to him. He remained still for a few more minutes, before he finally stood and made his way out the bedroom door, without a word. I pondered whether or not this could be counted as a fight for a while, before I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

My alarm was quite possibly the most irritating noise on the planet, which was why it had such a good success rate for getting me out of bed. I groaned as it sounded, burying my head under my pillows and willing the noise to just go away so I could sleep forever.

It was Friday. I hadn't spoken to Jared since Wednesday morning. He had missed school for the past two days and Paul, in the ultimate show of their bromance, was refusing to speak to me. He hadn't tried to call me -yet- and, being as stubborn as I am, I hadn't been humble enough to reach out. I assumed he would break eventually, he was the wolf, after all. Still, this time away from him was eating away at me. I wasn't sure how much longer I could handle it.

That was the weird bit. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had convinced myself that Jared would always be the one to break first. But as another tedious day began, the minutes slower than I had ever imagined possible, I was beginning to realize that I was equally reliant on him.

It was a miserable day at school, to say the least. Paul hardly looked at me and Jackie was constantly asking me where my boyfriend had gotten off to. Was he even still my boyfriend? That was a ridiculous thought, and I knew it. Jared had made it clear that imprinting was forever. Still, his absence from my day to day life was starting to make me wonder if they knew enough to be certain. Perhaps they thought it was unbreakable and forever. What if they were wrong? What if I had pressed the right button that caused something to change. I did my best to push these thoughts aside, but was unsuccessful.

The last bell rang and Paul was out of his seat in algebra faster than I had ever seen him move in his life. I had to give it to them, those wolf boys were exceptionally good at avoiding people when they wanted to be. I was half hoping that Jared would just pop up out of no where, smiling like everything was fine.

He didn't.

I was staring at his number in my phone as I wandered out of the school. I was willing myself not to dial the number when a voice interrupted my internal debate.

"Kim!" I glanced up. It took me a second to register Emily's face. She was standing in the parking lot, leaning against what I could only assume was Sam's beat up car. I smiled instantly, but that smile faded when I realized that Jared was not with her. Still, I made my way to where she was and forced a second smile to my face.

"Hey Em." I greeted, glancing around her a second time. She smiled knowingly.

"Good to know Jared isn't the only one suffering from separation anxiety."

"Suffering?"

Emily shrugged.

"He misses you." she said simply, "Can't seem to stay human for more than a few hours, explodes into a wolf at the slightest thing. It messes him up, not being with you."

I pressed the toe of my boot into the dirt that was caked onto the pavement.

"Then why didn't he come to see me?"

Emily's smile dropped and she crossed her arms over her chest. She was clearly very maternal when it came to the boys in the pack.

"Well the last conversation you had wasn't particularly welcoming." she said, "As far as he's concerned, you don't want to see him."

"I want to see him." I insisted, "I just don't want to see him dead."

Emily looked a bit torn. I knew she understood my worry and my fear that something would happen to Jared. Somehow, she must have managed to overcome it. I wasn't sure if I could.

"We all make sacrifices for the greater good, Kim." she said evenly, "This worry and pain that you and I carry, that is ours."

"I don't know if I can do that, Emily." I replied. She frowned.

"Do you want Jared?"

"Yes."

"Then you have to find the strength to be with him."

I hesitated. I didn't know what I could say. Finally, Emily circled the truck and opened the drivers side door.

"Come on." she said, nodding towards the passenger side, "He's been away from you long enough. It's high time we put him out of his misery."

_And mine._ I thought, as I opened the door and climbed in.

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><p><strong>Love to see those reviews! <strong>


	18. Chapter 18

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. I think I will be wrapping the story up shortly after I hit twenty chapters, but I don't know for sure how many more there will be. I might do a sequel, if I can find motivation for it, but I'll keep you all posted.

I'm also really interested in submitting the story into some kind of Fanfiction contest...I've seen them before but I have no idea where I would find one. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your reviews! And **tempahg, **I'm so glad you like my tumblr (you should follow *hint hint* haha)

This one's a little short, but enjoy everyone!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or these characters etc etc.

I couldn't help but feel nervous at the idea of seeing Jared. Though I felt I was right in wanting his safety, there was a part of me that felt like I was betraying him. I had, after all, turned my back on him and allowed him to leave without a word. Emily had clearly already said her piece on the matter and she talked aimlessly about the weather and her rain gutters on the ride to her house. I imagined she could give me a lecture for hours if she wanted to, but was grateful that she had decided against it. I felt horrible enough as it was and missing Jared wasn't doing much of anything to help that.

Emily seemed so at ease with the situation we were currently in and I wondered how she did it. When I even began to think about what Jared being a wolf really meant, it was overwhelming. I was seventeen after all. He had claimed me as his soulmate, as his forever love, and that in itself was scary. At seventeen, I should not be thinking about what it might be like to marry Jared and have his kids or anything else that involved a future beyond graduation. Usually, I didn't think about it, because it made my head hurt and I felt a bit queasy at the thought of it all. Often it was just easier to pretend that this was a normal relationship, with normal relationship problems. But that was impossible most of the time. Especially now.

The truck bumped up the road to Emily's small house. I could see a shirtless figure hunched on her front porch, his elbows resting on his knees as he sat there. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Jared. He was staring holes in the dirt at his feet. His shorts looked as if they have been shredded and then patched back together with clumsy fingers and I remembered that Emily had said he was having a hard time staying human with the tension going on between us. Emily jerked the shift into park and pushed the old driver's side door open without ceremony. Jared didn't even look up. I hesitated in reaching for the door handle, but Em was faster on the outside and she wrenched it open. The instant I felt the air from outside on my skin, Jared's eyes snapped up to meet mine.

His eyes darkened immediately and his entire body tensed and shook for a few seconds. Finally, with a grimace fixed on his face and a grunt, he stood, his muscles becoming still once again.

"Damn it, Emily." he muttered, "I told you to leave it alone."

"Don't speak to me like that." she snapped, "The pair of you are being ridiculous."

She turned around to give me a look and I dropped my gaze in shame.

"And you are going to hurt someone if this goes on for another day." Emily said to Jared, "So figure it out, because there's enough danger around here with out one of you wolf pups causing it."

Jared looked embarrassed by the last comment. It was clear that Emily had been spending enough time around Sam to pick up some of the leadership tactics that he used on the boys. With that final comment, she went around Jared and into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

He stared at me for a long time and I tried to resist closing those few feet between us. I had never been good with missing people, anyway.

"I didn't tell her to get you." he said sullenly, after some time.

"I can leave, if you don't want to see me." I snapped. He flinched.

"That isn't what I meant." he muttered, rubbing his temple. I frowned and it was back to the long silence. He shuffled his feet again, looking like he wanted to pace a bit, but then decided against it. His muscles remained tense as he clearly struggled with where to start.

"Look." he said, "It is _impossible_ for me to knowingly hurt you."

"Then I don't see why you can't j-" I began to protest but he cut me off.

"Kim."

He hesitated again, but then took a step towards me, lightly gripping my upper arm and leading me to sit on the steps of the house. He gingerly took a seat beside me, clearly placing a cautious distance between us. He pondered over his words for a long moment. Finally he sighed.

"I can't change what I am." he said finally, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"I know."

He watched me closely for a moment.

"I was made this way for two reasons. To kill vampires," he said slowly, staring at me, "And to love you."

The guilt was back now. I couldn't help but reach out and rest one of my small, cold hands on top of his large warm ones. He smiled, only slightly, at the action.

"I can't do one without the other, Kim. It was the shifting that brought me you." he said, "Because we both know it would have taken me years to figure out that you're perfect for me without a swift kick in the ass."

"Yeah, well, you're dense like that sometimes." I joked, grinning as I said it.

"_Hey."_ he said with a teasing smile. He quickly became serious again. "It's you that makes me fight harder. And it's you that I come home for. I would be a _thousand _times more reckless out there if I didn't know you were waiting for me to come back."

I took a moment to consider this and he watched me carefully as I processed and mulled over his words. He looked worried, I could tell that he was fearful I wouldn't change my mind.

"I think it's your turn to say something." he prodded finally, ever the impatient one. I didn't have words for him, not yet anyway. Instead, I leaned forward, closing the gap between us, and pressed my lips to his firmly. The spark there, the one I had been missing for days confirmed it. Jared had ruined kisses for me forever. I would never kiss another man and feel the same way. I pulled away, my eyes still closed and sighed. Finally, I opened my eyes and looked into his.

"As long as you always come back," I said, "We'll be okay.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I nodded and he looked relieved. He immediately shifted himself closer to me and threw one of his massive arms over my shoulder, pulling me close to him and pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Thank God for that." he murmured and I laughed.

"Now, come on." I said, standing up and heading in the direction of his car, which was parked beside the house, "You have two days to make up for."

And without hesitation, he jumped up and followed after me.

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><p><strong>Love to see those reviews! <strong>


	19. Chapter 19

Wow, okay, I have gotten so unbelievably behind on my postings for this story. My apologies to everyone who has been waiting on this chapter. I'm pretty positive that -given what I have- Chapter 20 will be the last one, as I'm really just going to be tying up loose ends and adding in some fluffy goodness to finish off. I'm still looking for a place to submit this for a competition, so if you know of a fanfic contest site that allows for Twilight submissions, I'd love the url.

Thanks for your patience!

**Disclaimer: **The same as always, I do not own this franchise

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><p>It didn't take long for us to get to my house, where Marcus was lounging on the sofa with the television on. He didn't even look up as we entered the kitchen, though he noticed that Jared was with me as we made our way towards the stairs. He glanced up as we passed and his typical, cheshire grin spread wide across his face.<p>

"And here I thought you'd gone the route of Kim's other boyfriends." he called after us and I scowled in the direction of his voice. Marcus hadn't mentioned Jared in the time he had been absent from the house and, obviously, my life. He knew better than to make fun when something was not right, but always took the opportunity to do so when things fixed themselves again. For once, I was thankful for the zombie like state that I knew Marcus fell into when he watched television. He would be less likely to bother us with his shows on.

I ushered Jared into my bedroom ahead of me and as I closed the door behind me, a silence fell over the room. We stood there, several feet apart and staring, for what seemed like an eternity. And then, as if cued by some unseen force, the tension broke and I was gathered up in his arms with his lips _everywhere_ as he backed up to my bed. He fell backwards onto the mattress, holding me securely to his front as he did so and I adjusted myself to push my body closer to his, weaving my fingers into the short hairs at the base of his neck. He repositioned himself slightly, just as my teeth grazed his lower lip, and I caught a distinctive groan rumble from his chest.

"We should stop." he murmured in a brief moment of separation, but his words were quickly muffled by my lips once again. I pointedly ignored his weak protest and continued with my affections. In my impatience, I tugged my shirt over my head myself, letting it fall off to the side without any care for where it landed. My right hand returned to his neck and shoulder while my left fingered the frayed waistband of his tattered shorts. There was another audible grumble from Jared.

"You don't have too-" I cut him off with my mouth again. I could see, in the rare moments where our eyes met between kisses that he was torn between the attraction that he had towards me and his resolve to be a gentleman in any way possible. I gave the button of his shorts a firm tug and the fabric gave way, having been weakened by his sudden transformations over the past few days. His gentlemanly intentions seemed to have won out for the moment and he rolled both of us over, abruptly halting my progression towards sex by snatching my wrist with one of his agile hands. He was breathing hard, his weight primarily on his left forearm, with my wrist captured in his right hand. My free hand was still looped around his neck and he stared at me, meeting my eyes and stopping my motions.

"We don't have to do this, Kim." he said firmly, "It doesn't have to be this fast."

I studied him for a moment, watching his expression to see if he genuinely wanted to slow things down. I could tell that he did, but for my sake and not his. It dawned on me that this was his attempt at respecting my assumed virtue. Unfortunately, it was a bit late for that and I laughed.

"It's not like I haven't done this before."

I hadn't really been thinking when the words slipped out of my mouth. It seemed like a perfectly normal thing to tell my boyfriend and, honestly, it wasn't as if Jared was a virgin. I had heard enough high school gossip to know he had lost it long before any of this had started. But the look on his face told me that I should have kept my history to myself and I instantly regretted mentioning it. Jared pushed himself into an upright position, settling on the opposite end of my bed cross legged. He stared at me for a moment and I could tell he was searching his mind to figure out _who_.

"You did it with _him_?" The way the last word came out of his mouth indicated to me that he meant Ian. I tried to play it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, I did." I replied evenly and he looked as if I had twisted the knife. I stared at him for a moment and then rolled my eyes. He was being absolutely ridiculous. It wasn't as if I could go and take my virginity back, just so I could give it to him. What was done, was done. "What's the issue? You've had sex before, Jared."

He hesitated now and I think he knew how ridiculous he was being about the whole thing.

"I just..." he trailed off for a second, "The idea of him touching you."

"Don't think about it."

He laughed at the suggestion.

"I can't _not _think about it, Kim." he replied, pulling me closer to him again, "The image is going to be in my head for a while."

"Well I'm sorry I mentioned it then. But you would have figured it out on your own." I told him, "And I thought it would be easier if I just was honest."

"Easier. Right." he muttered. He moved me so I was seated on his calves, right where they crossed, with one leg bent on either side of his torso. He searched my face for a long moment, while I took note of the turmoil that now clouded his eyes. Finally, he brushed my hair behind my ear. "I _know_ that there have been other guys in your life. I do. I'm not stupid."

"I didn't say you-" He cut me off.

"But I like to pretend they don't exist. I like to think that I'm the only one to ever run his fingers through your hair or to watch you fall asleep. Or to kiss you." He accentuated this statement with a light kiss to the crook of my neck, the spot that made my head tilt to one side and my eyes close unconsciously. The spot that had only taken him seconds to find the first time he went searching for it. He pulled back and I opened my eyes to meet his dark ones. I ran my thumb over his jaw.

"Will you settle for first love?" I offered him. The love we had was...implied. I'd never said the words and he hadn't either, both of us trying to keep some normalcy to our exceptionally fast relationship. Despite those efforts, it was inevitable. He grinned, looking pleased with himself.

"You love me?" he asked, obviously playing around.

"Like you didn't know."

"It's still nice to hear." he admitted, looking happier than he had a few moments ago.

"Good." I replied, "Are you satisfied then?"

A mischievous glint flickered into his eyes and his gaze dropped hungrily to my lips, before sliding down the rest of my body. He glanced back up and met my gaze.

"Not in the slightest." he said, playing on the possible meanings of 'being satisfied'. "We've still got a few hours before my next patrol starts, though, so I'm not all that concerned about it."

"Only a few hours? Better make the most of it then." I murmured, leaning closer to his face. He gave me his signature lopsided grin, before catching my lips with such force that I fell back onto the bed.

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><p>AND THEN THEY HAVE SEX. No, I will not be writing a lemon, as I really just don't think I could do it justice. But I know you all have been waiting for this, so here it is. Let me know what you think...reviews are love 3<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

Alright, so this is FINALLY finished. I'm so happy to call it done because I have never finished a multichapter story before and I am so pleased with how this one turned out. Thank you all so much for sticking with me and for your support through the whole process. I really could not have asked for better readers and I'm so thankful.

midnightblackwolfpup: I looked up where lemon came from! Apparently it's a reference to an anime from the 80's called 'Cream Lemon'. I'm not familiar with the anime, but I guess given the meaning of lemon in fanfiction, there was probably a lot of sex in it.

**Disclaimer: **Jared, Kim and Twilight are not mine

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><p>He'd begrudgingly left for patrol hours later, muttering something about how he liked to protect the rez, but he liked figuring out all the ways to get me undone better. As important as his job was, I couldn't help but agree, as I dozed off to sleep under layers of tangled blankets and sheets. My entire body felt heavy and ached with a pleasant post-sex weariness when I woke up, hours later. I checked the clock to see that it was sometime after eleven. Jared had patrol from six in the morning until noon today and I could expect a call from him soon enough. I rolled over, groaning as my body protested the movement, and grabbed my cell phone from my bedside table. I dropped it off onto the pillow beside my head and allowed my eyes to droop closed again.<p>

I was woken up by my phone vibrating uncontrollably by my head. I flipped it open and held it to my ear.

"`ello?" I mumbled into the phone. I heard a familiar chuckle on the other end.

"Still sleeping babe?" Jared laughed. I rolled over onto my back, grimacing as I did so.

"Trying to." I replied, yawning slightly, "Patrol's over?"

"Yeah, I was thinking we could go get something eat. Want to head over to the diner?" he asked and I groaned in response.

"Only if you want to carry me. I can't move." He laughed again.

"And why's that?" he asked, sounding a bit smug over the phone. I rolled my eyes.

"Because I'm on the verge of a sex induced coma, you bastard." I quipped back, "Why don't you just come over here and keep me warm for a few hours? If I get the energy, I'll make you some food."

"Now there's an idea." he mused, "Too bad I thought of it first. I'm outside, can I convince you to come let me in?"

"The door's probably unlocked. Which I know you hate, but I didn't want to get up and lock it last night and I'm sure Marcus didn't either."

"It's unsafe. I just want you to be safe." he said and I heard the door opening down stairs.

"I know, I know. I'll start locking it, I swear." The phone line went dead on his end and saw my door open. Jared was leaning against the doorframe in a long sleeved white shirt and loose fitting sweats.

"No you won't." he said, setting his phone on my dresser. He crossed the room and crawled into the bed, gently shifting me towards the wall in the process, "Which is why I have to come over as often as possible to make sure you're safe."

"I'm okay with that." I mumbled, snuggling close to him as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Do you want to head over to Emily's at one?" he asked, tracing circles with his fingertips on my back. I yawned and nodded. It was a weekend after all and the boys usually went over to Emily's on Saturdays. Because Jared had already done his rounds for the day, it would be a more relaxed setting and I was looking forward to it.

"Just let me sleep a little while longer." I insisted, squirming to try and get closer to him. He hugged me tighter.

"But I wanted to spend time with you before we have to go to Em's." he protested, leaning down and kissing the side of my face. He left a trail of kisses from me cheek to the edge of my shoulder before he began to make his way back up again. He didn't even make it to my neck before a I threaded a hand into his hair and pulled him up to meet my lips. He grinned into our kiss and pulled me to an upright positions.

"You can't resist me." he mumbled against my lips, clearly still smiling.

"Mmhmm." I agreed, allowing the kiss to continue for several more minutes before I begrudgingly broke away from him. "I have to get ready if we're going out."

Jared rolled his eyes, but released me so that I might prepare for an afternoon with his second family. After rifling through my closet and finding the pair of jeans I had envisioned in my head, I tugged a long sleeved shirt over my head and smoothed the frizziness from my long waves of hair. My attempt to put on some makeup failed abysmally, as Jared had gotten impatient by that point and had seated himself behind me on my vanity chair, kissing the back of my neck in a manner that was just down right impossible to work through. I gave up and settled for brief mascara and eyeliner.

Marcus was likely still asleep, as there was no sign of him in the kitchen and his car was still parked outside. I ignored my grumbling stomach, knowing full well that Emily would have more than enough food at her home. Sure enough, as we pulled up the dirt road to Emily's house, a slight smile appeared of Jared's face. He could already smell her cooking. Jared opened the door for me, somehow always able to get around to the other side of the car before I could detangle myself from that infernal seat belt. I smiled at him as he reached for my hand and we walked towards the house together.

Emily smiled warmly at me when we entered the house, nodded to Jared and wrapped me up in a hug like we were sisters. It was a process, but I was beginning to see them as Jared saw them. Like an extension of my family that I had never known existed.

"Glad to see everything worked out." she said to me, as she pulled away, smiling brightly at me.

"Thanks to you." I answered, mimicking her grin. And she was right, everything had worked out. Finally, after all of the turmoil I had felt and the uncertainty of our circumstances, it seemed that the dust had finally settled. I, for one, welcomed this new found tranquility.

After helping Emily with a few of the finishing touches to a lunch she swore to give me a crash course in, I finally made me way to where Jared was standing by the counter in the kitchen. He grinned broadly and reached for me as soon as he noticed that I was heading in his direction.

I smiled as Jared threaded his arm around me and I leaned into his side with a contented smile. In the dining room, Emily fussed over Sam for one thing or another, likely the mess he was making of her table and Paul took advantage of her distraction by snatching some of the food right off of the stove. I couldn't help but chuckle softly as he grinned in triumph over his theft. The moment, however, was short lived, as a howl erupted from somewhere in the woods. Jared stiffened against me and Sam instantly shifted to look out the kitchen window in the direction of the sound. He then glanced back to Jared and Paul.

"Sounds like we have another to add to the pack."

And like that, Sam, Paul and Jared were already out the door, Emily and I following close behind them. The boys shrugged off their shirts on the porch and made their way in the direction of the forest edge.

"Be safe, Jared." I called after him, from where I stood at the bottom of the porch steps. He paused and glanced over his shoulder at me. Paul and Sam continued on to the woods, but Jared took a moment to jog back to me. He ducked his head to press a quick kiss to my lips, barely satisfying and never enough. And then he grinned broadly, looking me square in the eyes.

"Always."

* * *

><p>The end!<p>

Just to clarify, the end of this fic falls in line with the New Moon timeline, as Embry, Quil and Jake begin shifting around February of the book. Whichever of the three shifts first is who's howling out in the woods.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do a sequel or if I'm going to write about a different couple at some point, but I would love to know what the readers would like to see from me in the future. I might do some one shots at some point, maybe I'll try my hand at another full on story...it just depends! I love feedback from you all, especially when it comes to what you'd like to read about.

Again, thank so much! I love your reviews, so be sure to send some my way!


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